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Fox 5 is watching your wallet tonight, and the tariff turmoil could have people turning to second-hand stores to soften the economic flow
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All right, but what if you're doing more than thrifting and shopping for things like clothing and electronics
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What about used baby items, things like car seats? Fox 5's Teresa Priolo has some news you can use tonight
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The tariff cost might push parents to making decisions that could be unsafe for their children
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There's fear in the baby goods industry right now of an unintended consequence of President Trump's tariff war
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The escalation in prices could force new and seasoned parents to rely on secondhand baby gear, which on its face doesn't sound like a bad idea, but it could be
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The risk is safety. Ultimately, child safety is what this is all about
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There is not one car seat, infant or otherwise, manufactured in the U.S
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They're all stitched, sewed, and in many cases, assembled in China. And so with it will come a 145 tariff since car seats are not currently an exempt item So what a parent to do Pay hundreds more on a seat already several hundred dollars or turn to the secondary market Jason Mundy is a child passenger safety tech He helps
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install car seats. You don't have Carfax on a car seat. Some sellers on Facebook or eBay show when
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the car seat was purchased and when it expires, but many don't. They also don't detail if there's
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been a car accident or if there's mold in the seat. It's the same situation at a garage sale
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or a thrift shop. The experts caution, like most things you buy online, you literally do not know
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what you're buying and if it's safe. It's the hot, the cold, the plastic elastic aspect of it
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They're cold webbing, but the shoulder straps, you know, they get frayed. Internal, you see things
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that you can't see externally. There's also another problem on the horizon
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We are currently running into new safety standards starting in 2026 for car seats manufacturers
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And many car seat manufacturers are delayed in testing product because the testing facilities don't have enough sled time to test these car seats
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Teresa Priolo, Fox 5 News
