Parents have been scared into early back-to-school shopping as fears of tariffs and rising prices cause a record spike in related July purchases.

Recent surveys found most parents are expecting to pay more in back-to-school costs this year, and around half blame President Trump’s trade wars for the spike.

A National Retail Foundation (NRF) survey found 67 percent of back-to-school shoppers were already hitting stores before mid-July, up from 55 percent last year and the highest level since NRF started keeping track in 2018.

Fifty-one percent of those shoppers specifically cited concerns of increases in prices from tariffs as their reason for going early.

"Consumers are navigating an uncertain environment right now, and uncertainty is coming from they just don't know how much things are going to cost later in the year, and they're trying to deal with that by buying ahead of time, stocking up now, while they know what prices will be, and trying to get ahead of potential price increases later in the season or later in the year,” said Katherine Cullen, vice president of industry and consumer insights at NRF.

In a separate survey last week by U.S. News, 85 percent of shoppers said tariffs........

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