If a major appliance in your home is on its last legs, the timing of the replacement may matter more than usual this year. Federal tariffs on steel and aluminum have been extended to cover major household appliances, and industry analysts expect that to push prices up. On a big-ticket item like a refrigerator or a washer, an increase of even 15 to 25 percent translates into hundreds of extra dollars, which is real money for a purchase most households make rarely and reluctantly.
Which appliances the tariffs touch
The tariffs in question are Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum, and copper, and in 2026 the government expanded them to reach the metal content of finished appliances. That list includes refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, freezers, stoves and ranges, and other metal-heavy appliances. The rates are steep: an additional duty running as high as 50 percent applies to the aluminum, steel, and copper content of covered products, according to trade advisories summarizing the Section 232 tariff changes. These are not proposed tariffs sitting in a committee somewhere. They are in effect now, applied at the border as appliances and their components are imported, and they are scheduled to run into 2027. Because so much of a modern appliance is metal, the tariff reaches a meaningful share of the product’s cost.
A tariff is paid by the importer, but the cost does not stop there. It generally works its way into the shelf price, which is why the effect shows up on the sticker in the store rather than on a customs form you ever see.
Free retirement updates: Want plain-English help keeping more of your money in retirement? The free Retirement Shield newsletter covers the benefits, deadlines, and money mistakes that cost retirees, a couple times a week. Subscribe free.
What it could mean on the price tag
Nobody can promise an exact figure, because manufacturers absorb, pass through, and adjust prices in different ways, and not every model is affected equally. But the direction is clear, and the estimates are sobering. Analysts have suggested appliance prices could rise roughly 15 to 25 percent as the tariffs work through the supply chain. On a $1,200 refrigerator, a 25 percent increase would be about $300; on a $900 washer, it would be a couple hundred dollars. The broader picture is that tariffs act like a tax on the goods households buy, and the nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimates the full slate of 2026 tariffs amounts to a significant average cost increase per household across all the goods it touches. Appliances, being both expensive and metal-intensive, are among the more exposed purchases.
How to spend less on the appliance you need
The good news is that appliance shopping has more give in it than most people use. Floor models, the display units sitting in the showroom, are often discounted well below new-in-box pricing and work exactly the same. Scratch-and-dent inventory, where a cosmetic ding on a side panel that will face a wall knocks hundreds off the price, is another reliable source of savings. Retailers also run predictable sale cycles around holidays, so if your current appliance is limping but not dead, timing a purchase to a major sale can offset much of the tariff increase. Open-box returns and manufacturer-certified refurbished units, which carry warranties, are worth asking about too. None of these require buying something worse; they require buying the same thing through a cheaper channel.
Repair math and the long game
When prices climb, the repair-versus-replace calculation shifts. A repair that seemed not worth it when a new unit was cheap can pencil out when the replacement costs several hundred dollars more, so it is worth getting a repair quote before assuming a broken appliance means a new purchase. If you do replace, spending a bit more on an efficient model can pay back over years through lower utility bills, which matters more when the upfront price is already elevated. And if you have flexibility on timing, buying before a rumored price increase fully lands, or waiting for a genuine sale, are both better than replacing in a panic the day something breaks. The tariffs are a headwind on a purchase you cannot always avoid, but how and when you buy still sits within your control.
Let efficiency offset part of the higher price
If the upfront cost is going to be steeper, it is worth capturing savings on the back end through what the appliance costs to run. A refrigerator or washer that carries the federal Energy Star label uses meaningfully less electricity or water than a standard model, and over the eight-to-fifteen-year life of a major appliance those lower utility bills add up to real money that offsets part of a higher sticker price. You can compare models and estimated annual operating costs through the government’s Energy Star program, which publishes the efficiency ratings manufacturers are measured against. Some utilities and state programs also offer rebates for buying an efficient appliance or for recycling an old, power-hungry one, so it is worth a quick check with your electric or gas provider before you buy. None of this makes a tariff-inflated price disappear, but it changes the calculation from a single big number on the tag to the total you will actually pay over years of ownership. When prices are rising, buying the efficient model on sale, and pocketing a rebate if one exists, is how a household keeps a necessary purchase from costing more than it has to.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
More Financial Reading
