Seeping taxes, suspending data

Daily update

Yesterday’s July US consumer price inflation data showed trade taxes seeping into prices. US appliance prices are higher than in March—in most other major economies, they are lower. Tire prices leapt in July. Auto prices are not reflecting tariffs, but that was not likely—cars arriving as late as June would have been tariff exempt, and from dockside to car lot takes up to six months. Pre-tax auto inventory is currently being sold.
Assuming the data is honestly published, US consumer price inflation should reflect a crescendo of trade tax effects over the coming months, with the full impact visible next year. However, US President Trump’s nominee for Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner, Antoni, has suggested that data like the employment report might be suspended, fueling fears about data impartiality.
The UK has suspended labor market data because of low survey response rates. It did so in a politically neutral climate, provided alternative sources, and worked to correct the response rate problem. China has historically suspended data series, and in doing so encouraged speculation about what is really happening in the economy. US data suspension would probably follow the China path.
German and Spanish final July consumer price inflation data are due, but these figures are almost never revised.