Unilever and Procter & Gamble indicate more increases could be on way as Trump policy affects ingredient costs
The companies that make leading brands including Magnum ice-creams, Nescafé coffee and Ariel washing liquid have indicated that more price increases could be on the way as ingredient costs rise amid Donald Trump’s tariff war.
Procter & Gamble, whose products include Pampers nappies and Oral-B toothpaste as well as Ariel, said new US tariffs could cost it up to $1.5bn (£1.1bn) a year, forcing it to put up prices again on top of a 1% year-on-year rise in the first three months of 2025. Prices of the group’s beauty products, which include Olay and Pantene, rose 3% in the quarter.
Kristalina Georgieva calls for trade policy settlement and says tariff wars have ‘spiked uncertainty off the charts’
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva has urged the US to strike trade deals urgently, to limit the damage to the global economy from Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Speaking at a press conference at the IMF’s spring meetings in Washington, Georgieva declined to criticise the US administration directly; but warned that what she called “major trade policy shifts” had “spiked uncertainty off the charts”.
Donald Trump’s tariff war and cost inflation are adding to pressures reflected in the prices of everyday goods
Unilever and Nestlé have raised prices for consumers – and indicated further increases could be on the way amid cost inflation and Donald Trump’s tariff war.
Fernando Fernandez, the new boss of the Marmite, Dove and Domestos owner, Unilever, said the company had “seen some commodity inflation returning” in recent monthsthat could flow through to more price rises. However, Unilever will be “very cautious” in its approach, Fernandez said, with increases the “last resort to which I go. Before that we will try to manage our cost base”. Unilever put up its prices by an average 1.7% in the first three months of this year.