While company after company has warned that U.S. tariffs could force them to raise prices for a variety of products, concerns have mounted over the possibility that some may exploit the situation to hike prices well beyond what is actually justified by the levies.

In a March 25 letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted fears that the Trump administration's "chaotic approach" to trade could enable corporations to increase prices "regardless of whether goods are actually subject to tariffs." Warren pointed toward a similar situation that played out during Trump's first term in 2018, when tariffs on foreign-made washing machines saw companies also raise prices on domestic machines and dryers, which were not subject to any levies.

“Manufacturers just followed the crowd and raised (prices),” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell explained during a March press conference.

Read More: Price Hikes and Tariffs — Some Common Sense

Today, businesses have already started rolling out a new round of price hikes, in the face of a warning from Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson that Trump's levies "should not be interpreted as a green light for price fixing."

On April 13, Sony announced that it would be increasing the price of its Playstation 5 by 25% in the United Kingdom, EU, Australia and New Zealand, citing a "challenging economic environment." Chinese e-commerce giants Shein and Temu also said they will start raising rates on April 25, while a slew of other companies — including Amazon, Ford, Target and Walmart — have hinted at similar plans.

In an April 15 analysis, the Yale Budget Lab estimated that tariffs could push consumer prices up by much as 3% in the near term, with a disproportionate impact on shoes and apparel. And although economists have frequently warned in recent months that the cost of tariffs will ultimately get passed down to consumers, the levies also create an environment where companies have a convenient excuse to boost their profit margins.

“A narrative [is needed] to tell consumers why prices are going up — tariffs provide exactly that story,” UBS Wealth Management chief economist Paul Donovan told The Guardian.

Such a strategy has an even more recent precedent too, with the U.S. Department of Justice investigating egg producers over claims that companies took advantage of a recent bird flu outbreak to artificially inflate costs to record levels. An analysis from nonprofit Food and Water Watch also found that egg prices began to rise even before the latest bird flu strain had affected poultry flocks.