All tiny houses require compromises – it’s unavoidable when your home is small enough to tow. However, the Thicket has fewer drawbacks than you’d expect given its relatively compact size, and it looks like it could be a good fit for first-time downsizers.
The Thicket, by Rewild Homes, is based on a triple-axle trailer and has a length of 34 ft (10.4 m), which is about average for a North American tiny house, with some coming considerably longer. However, its width comes in at 10.6 ft (3.2 m). Though the bump in size over the standard 8.5 ft (2.6 m) seems negligible, those extra feet go a long way toward making it look more like a regular home and not a narrow corridor like some tiny houses. The drawback to this is that you need a permit to tow on a public road.
The exterior is finished in cedar and metal, with a metal roof. One misconception is that a metal roof makes a lot of noise in the rain, like an agricultural building, but as long as it’s insulated and installed properly, it should be close enough to a traditional roof. I was pretty skeptical about this myself until I bought a house with a metal roof and it really is quiet. Generous glazing, including double glass doors, helps open up the living area to the outside. The interior, meanwhile, is finished in locally sourced woods, including a cedar ceiling and hemlock trims.
The Thicket’s interior is finished in local woods, including cedar and hemlock
Rewild Homes
Inside, the extra width mentioned pays off in the kitchen, which easily fits full-size appliances. It has a propane oven and four-burner cooktop (gas lessens the draw on the electrical hookup), a full-size fridge/freezer, a scratch-resistant granite sink, acacia butcher block countertops, and custom cabinetry that’s dark green but looks almost black in some of the photos.
A dining table for two is placed nearby, and adjacent to that is the living room area, with a sofa and an electric fireplace. There’s also decent separation between the kitchen and living room, which is rare in a tiny house.
A sliding door accesses the spacious bathroom, which contains a glass-enclosed walk-in shower, a flushing toilet, a sink, and a washer/dryer, plus more storage space. From the bathroom, another sliding door reaches the bedroom. This has ample headroom to stand upright thanks to its ground-floor position and contains a double bed and lots of storage. There’s also a separate door connecting straight to the outside. Additionally, a wall-mounted ladder provides access to a storage loft situated above the adjacent bathroom.
The Thicket’s double glass doors really help open up the home to the outside, though they do mean less wall space for shelving or mounting a TV, for example
Rewild Homes
The standard Thicket starts at around CAD 160,000 (roughly US$115,000), though the exact home shown, which was recently delivered to a customer, cost CAD 180,000 ($128,000).
Carl Erik Rinsch had already burned through more than $44 million of Netflix’s money when the streaming giant wired him an additional $11 million in March 2020 to finish a sci-fi series called “White Horse.” But according to the federal indictment, the show was never completed. And not a single episode aired.
Instead, federal prosecutors say Rinsch diverted nearly all those funds into personal brokerage accounts, lost half of it on speculative stock trades, made it back through cryptocurrency, and then went on a massive shopping spree that included five Rolls-Royces, one Ferrari, and two handcrafted Swedish mattresses that together cost $638,000.
Rinsch, 48, attended his trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom early Tuesday, facing charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and unlawful monetary transactions that carry a combined maximum penalty of 90 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and declined to discuss a plea deal. His lead attorney, Daniel Adam McGuinness, did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment, but he previously told Business Insider, “Mr. Rinsch is looking forward to the opportunity to show that these charges are not founded and that he’s completely innocent.”
The ‘White Horse’ that never was
In 2018, Netflix outbid Amazon, HBO, Apple, and others to secure “White Horse”—later renamed “Conquest”—a dystopian thriller about an artificial humanlike species. Actor Keanu Reeves, who had starred in Rinsch’s only feature film, the 2013 box-office bomb “47 Ronin,” served as an early investor and mentor on the project. According to The New York Times, Netflix agreed to pay $61.2 million for rights to the series, and it also granted Rinsch something it had only previously given a handful of directors: final cut. In other words, he’d have the last word on the version of his show that would air.
But production hit problems almost immediately. Rinsch exceeded budgets during shoots in Brazil, Uruguay, and Hungary, and by December 2019, filming had stalled with no episodes completed. Netflix executives agreed to provide the additional $11 million in hopes of salvaging the project, according to court documents.
Instead, prosecutors allege, Rinsch transferred almost all of the $11 million into his personal brokerage account within weeks of receiving it, losing more than half through speculative options trades on a biopharmaceutical company and an S&P 500 ETF—all while telling then-Netflix executive CIndy Holland the project was going “awesome” and “game changing good.” He later invested the remaining funds in cryptocurrency and generated roughly $10 million in gains, which prosecutors say he spent on luxury goods, credit card debt, divorce attorneys, and legal fees incurred in suing Netflix for additional payments.
Rinsch’s defense has signaled it may argue that his mental state rendered him incapable of forming the intent required for fraud. Court filings indicate his lawyers plan to call psychiatrist Dr. John Mariani, who is expected to testify that Rinsch was in a “state of psychosis” during the relevant period, potentially exacerbated by prescription stimulants and the COVID-19 pandemic. The defense, however, has stated it is “not making any argument or submitting any evidence that Mr. Rinsch was or is insane.”
Netflix has already won an $11.8 million civil arbitration award against Rinsch, who is now described by his public defenders as “indigent” and “unemployed.” The trial before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff is expected to last two weeks and feature testimony from former Netflix executives, including Cindy Holland, who initially acquired the project when she served as vice president of original content. Holland has since been hired by Paramount as the legacy studio moves to reshape itself into a streaming-era competitor to Netflix, with both reportedly bidding for Warner Brothers Discovery.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
A Zambian-American influencer and political vlogger has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for hate speech for making insulting remarks about Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.
Zambian-born Ethel Chisono Edwards, who also holds US citizenship and works as an estate agent in New York, has a large following across various social media accounts. Known as “One Boss Lady”, she has become renowned for her rants about the president over the last two years.
The 42-year-old was arrested at Zambia’s main airport three months ago after arriving to attend her grandmother’s funeral.
She pleaded guilty in a magistrate’s court in the capital, Lusaka, and apologised to the president for her comments.
But Magistrate Webster Milumbe said the court had a duty to send a strong warning, noting that hate speech had become increasingly common.
Edwards, who has been in police custody since her arrest, was convicted under the Cyber Security Act and the Cyber Crimes Act – new legislation that came into effect this year.
She admitted to using a computer system to publish the offensive statements, acknowledged having no lawful excuse and conceded that her words were motivated by hatred.
Her lawyer, Joseph Katati, described Edwards as a remorseful first offender with potential.
He went on to detail how she was a breadwinner and philanthropist who sponsored a Zambian girls’ football team that would suffer from her imprisonment.
He also delivered a detailed public apology on her behalf.
“I want to unreservedly apologise to the president, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, his family, and the nation of Zambia for the words that I uttered against the president and for the negative effects that those words may have caused to the president, his family, and the nation at large,” it said.
Throughout her court appearances, Edwards appeared subdued – a stark contrast to her online persona.
The magistrate acknowledged Mr Katati’s plea for mitigation and said Edwards’s sentence would be effective from the time of her arrest.
Mr Katati said he had not yet received instructions from his client on whether to appeal against the sentence.
The jailing of the influencer has divided opinion in Zambia, with some saying it was necessary while others arguing that it violates freedom of speech.
Hichilema, who came to office in 2021, has abolished criminal defamation laws against the president, but Zambians still face prosecution under other laws.
In September, two men were sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to use witchcraft to kill President Hichilema.
Finland-born karaoke technology company Singa has signed a licensing agreement with Merlin, adding “thousands” of original master recordings from independent labels to its platform, six months after securing a similar deal with Warner Music Group.
The partnership, announced Tuesday (December 2), gives the startup access to recordings from Merlin‘s membership of independent labels and distributors spanning more than 70 countries. Combined with its June licensing deal with WarnerMusic, Singa is assembling a catalog of original masters and “not reproductions or soundalike versions.”
Previously, karaoke companies relied on recreated versions of popular songs due to licensing restrictions with major labels.
Singa and Merlin said the partnership opens up new revenue streams for Merlin members and artists.
Merlin represents roughly 15% of the recorded music market and negotiates licensing deals on behalf of independent labels including DominoRecording, Empire, ExcelerationMusic, HopelessRecords, MushroomMusic, NinjaTune, ONErpm, Secretly, Reservoir and more. The organization operates without outside investors, funded by a 1.5% administration fee on deals.
“This partnership is about unlocking new opportunities for independent music and maximizing a space that has an immense impact on music discovery.”
Jeremy Sirota, Merlin
Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota said: “This partnership is about unlocking new opportunities for independent music and maximizing a space that has an immense impact on music discovery.”
“Merlin’s mission is to empower our members to own their digital future. By working with innovative partners like Singa, we’re creating new revenue streams for our members and ensuring their artists’ work is valued properly.”
Singa Co-Founder and CEO AtteHujanen added: “Independent artists and labels have passionate fans among karaoke singers, many of whom haven’t had the chance to perform their favorite deep cuts.”
“Merlin is helping us bring a broader and more diverse catalog to karaoke, while ensuring that more revenue goes back to the artists and songwriters who deserve it.”
Atte Hujanen, Singa
“Now, thanks to our proprietary technology and this partnership, they can sing along to high-quality, original recordings. Merlin is helping us bring a broader and more diverse catalog to karaoke, while ensuring that more revenue goes back to the artists and songwriters who deserve it.”
Founded in 2015, Singa offers karaoke ecosystem for consumers and venues like bars and entertainment venues. It now operates in 34 countries with about 2,000 hospitality venues and 2 million registered home users.
For Merlin, the Singa partnership marks its latest after previously negotiating deals with Apple, Canva, Deezer, Meta, Spotify, YouTube and more. Merlin recently renewed its partnership with Spotify after a 17-year collaboration.
Merlin recently appointed Charlie Lexton as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2026. Sirota is stepping down by the end of the year, after nearly two decades at the company.
The agreement with Singa follows renewed interest in karaoke, particularly across China, Japan and Korea. Research firm Technavio estimated in January that the global karaoke market would expand by $442 million between 2025 and 2029, representing a CAGR of 4.3%.
Wherever you go in Ukraine, army recruitment ads are impossible to miss. They loom from skyscraper billboards, plaster street corners and hang from highway bridges.
The ads are the work of individual units that recruit volunteers, rather than rely on conscription. The first ones appeared in the spring of 2023, and brigades have rolled out new ad campaigns every few months.
Early ads pulsed with a call to arms, in keeping with the national drive to repel Russia’s invasion. But as the war ground on, enthusiasm waned and Ukraine struggled to recruit, the tone changed.
More recent ads have reassured people that enlistment is not a one-way ticket to the front. Some have even tried to glamorize military life. And, lately, they have played on people’s pride to defend their country.
Here’s how the ads have evolved, and what they say about the country’s shifting moods at a time of uncertainty over whether diplomatic efforts will bring an end to the war or the fighting will persist.
In the spring of 2023, as Ukraine readied a much-anticipated counteroffensive to reclaim Russian-occupied territories in the south and east, it needed men to fight. That’s when the Third Assault Brigade, founded by Andriy Biletsky, a far-right politician before the war, launched one of the war’s first recruitment campaigns.
The brigade’s ads showed armor-clad soldiers advancing across a scorched-earth battlefield, as a helicopter and a drone flew overhead. “Join the decisive battle,” it urged.
Ad by the Third Assault brigade, April 2023
Six months later, the counteroffensive had failed, with Kyiv’s forces capturing only several villages at great human cost. Some Ukrainians questioned whether the fight had been worth it.
With the mood shifting, the Third Assault Brigade launched a new campaign. This one cast the war as an existential battle, and featured Ukrainian fighters facing zombies and monsters.
Third Assault brigade, November 2023
The zombie depiction tapped into the Ukrainian perception that Moscow’s forces are brainwashed by Kremlin propaganda and mindlessly kill at will, on the battlefield and off. Russian troops have been documented executing Ukrainian civilians.
“We wanted to show that if you don’t fight now, darkness will prevail,” said Khrystyna Bondarenko, the brigade’s head of media.
FIGHTING DOESN’T MEAN DYING
By late 2023, the war had settled into a bloody stalemate. Ukraine’s army needed to replenish its ranks after the failed counteroffensive. But with no end to the fighting in sight, more and more Ukrainians were reluctant to join.
So the brigades shifted their message. They began advertising noncombat roles to show that enlisting wasn’t always a march to the front lines.
Azov, a National Guard unit, launched a campaign with the tagline “The military needs different professions.” The ads showed cartoon-style hands holding a stethoscope, a wrench or a pen — a reminder that the army also needs doctors, mechanics and clerks.
Azov brigade, November 2023
The Third Assault Brigade highlighted how new technologies — especially the drones now flooding the battlefield — were reshaping soldiers’ roles. Alongside posters of a man wielding a chainsaw, the brigade released ads showing soldiers in goggles piloting drones or working on laptops.
Third Assault brigade, March 2024
The Ukrainian Army also struggled to enlist men because the draft process remained mired in Soviet-style bureaucracy and corruption. Many men were assigned to roles that didn’t fit their skills and received only a few weeks of training.
“People were afraid that as soon as they joined the army, they would be sent to the front lines not knowing what to do,” said Vsevolod Kozhemyako, a businessman who founded the Khartiia brigade at the start of the war.
To ease those fears, Khartiia launched a series of ads promising recruits NATO-style training and financial support. The posters featured real brigade members who at times looked more like IT workers than soldiers, with weapons absent from many of the images.
Khartiia brigade, September 2024
“We always need people with good business skills,” Mr. Kozhemyako said. “So we were telling them they would be used based on their skills.”
Summer 2024 to early 2025
IT’S COOL TO BE IN THE ARMY
Last summer, conscription was on everyone’s lips as Ukraine embarked on a major mobilization drive. A new law required all men ages 18 to 60 to register on a government website, the first step toward a possible call-up. The authorities set an ambitious target of drafting 30,000 new soldiers each month.
In response, the Third Assault Brigade launched campaigns over the next six months portraying army life as cool. Targeting younger men, who are needed for assault missions, the ads drew on youth culture with styles like anime. One video showed brigade members battling zombie-like Russian soldiers and bonding with friends on the training ground. The video ends with a young man deciding to join the unit’s ranks.
Third Assault brigade, January 2025
The brigade said it had used artificial intelligence to produce the ads. Ms. Bondarenko, its head of media, said that A.I. saved resources — the brigade cannot afford to pull soldiers from the front lines for photo shoots — and opened up new possibilities for original content.
Another ad showed a drone pilot reclining in a deckchair on the beach, with the tagline “Summer, FPV, Third Assault.” With the reference to first-person-view drones, the ad played on a widespread belief that being a drone pilot was a way to take part in the fight while staying safely behind the combat lines.
Third Assault brigade, June 2024
That perception has changed. As drones became central to the battlefield, drone pilots themselves became prime targets for enemy strikes.
The Third Assault’s most provocative campaign came last summer, when the unit ran ads showing a model lounging on a soldier’s lap or embracing him on a motorcycle. The message was clear: If you join the brigade, Ms. Bondarenko said, “beautiful girls will love you.”
Third Assault brigade, Oct. 2024
Critics called the campaign sexist, but Ms. Bondarenko said it was highly effective, attracting as many as 250 applications per day to join the brigade.
PLAYING ON PEOPLE’S PRIDE
By the time Ukraine entered its fourth year of full-scale war this year, fatigue had set in across the country. The message that army life was pleasant no longer resonated. So the brigades once again shifted their approach, this time appealing to people’s sense of pride and duty.
Leading the effort was Azov. In the summer, the unit released a video ad showing two women at a hair salon. One laments that she can’t take her husband out to celebrate his birthday because he’s worried that draft officers will snatch him if he leaves the house. The other casually says that she and her husband plan to go to Italy.
“Seriously? Your husband got an exemption?” the first woman asks. “No,” the second replies. “Mine is in Azov.” The hair salon falls silent.
The video shames those evading service and nods to the pride that comes from joining a unit that earned heroic status for its fierce resistance to Russian assaults. It was also a pointed reminder that while martial law bars most civilian men from leaving the country, soldiers can be allowed to travel abroad during breaks.
In another ad released this spring, Azov showed a young recruit video-calling his mother from the training ground and telling her, with a faint smile, “Mom, I’m joining Azov.”
Oksana Bondarenko, a communications officer for Azov, said the ad was timed to the introduction of a new government program encouraging enlistment among 18- to 24-year-olds, a group that is not subject to mobilization in Ukraine, which begins at age 25.
“Most young men say that when they decide to join the army, they’re afraid to tell their parents — mostly so that their mothers do not get upset,” she said. The campaign suggested that joining the army might make your family proud.
Preparing for a long fight, the army launched a major reorganization and expanded the Third Assault, Azov and Khartiia brigades into corps, assigning each of them additional units to run.
The newly formed corps began portraying military service as a way of life. Khartiia rolled out posters depicting giant soldiers in uniforms working amid skyscrapers, likening them to business professionals. The campaign, under the tagline “Grow With Khartiia,” framed joining the corps as a smart career move.
Khartiia brigade, July 2025
Mr. Kozhemyako, Khartiia’s founder, said the goal was to show that “you can build your career in the military” and gain skills that will later be valuable on the civilian job market.
The Third Assault’s campaign carried a more direct message. “We’re here to live” read the tagline accompanying pictures of soldiers cuddling babies and playing with dogs. Weapons were absent from the images — a first for the unit’s recruitment posters.
“We want to show that life continues even during war,” Ms. Bondarenko said.
Third Assault brigade, August 2025
The new campaign — nearly two years after the unit’s zombie-themed ads bristled with death and weapons — marked a striking shift in tone.
“We want to guess the moods of people to understand how to better recruit them,” Ms. Bondarenko said. “Moods really changed.”
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Climatologist Fredolin Tangang says the greater frequency and severity of typhoons in Southeast Asia is a wake up call for world governments to take firm action on climate change.
Watch: White House defends Venezuela boat strikes, says Admiral Bradley acted legally
A top US Navy admiral ordered a second round of strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, the White House has confirmed.
The “double tap” strike on 2 September has drawn bipartisan scrutiny among US lawmakers. The Washington Post recently reported that two people survived the first blast and were still clinging to the burning vessel when they were killed, raising fresh legality questions.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strikes but did not give an order to “kill everybody”, as the report said.
“Admiral (Frank) Bradley worked well within his authority and the law” in ordering the additional strike, Leavitt said.
More than 80 people have been killed in a number of similar strikes in the Caribbean Sea since early September. Each announcement from US officials is usually accompanied by grainy video, but no evidence of the alleged drug trafficking, and few details on who or what was on board each vessel.
The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defence by destroying boats carrying illicit drugs to the US.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern over the report of the 2 September incident and have vowed congressional reviews of the strikes.
“President (Donald) Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war,” Leavitt said during the Monday press briefing.
The press secretary neither confirmed the first strike left two survivors, nor that the second attack was intended to kill them.
Media reports that Hegseth had given the directive to kill all those on board the vessel during the 2 September strike have renewed concerns about the legality of US military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
Hegseth has pushed back against accusations in the report, calling them “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory”. On Monday, he tweeted that Admiral Bradley “is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support.
“I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since.”
Trump: Hegseth said he ‘did not order the death of those two men’
In recent weeks the US has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean, as part of what it calls an anti-narcotics operation.
Trump warned on Thursday that US efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” would begin “very soon”.
Over the weekend, the Senate Armed Services Committee said it would be “conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts” related to the 2 September strikes.
Republican chairman of the committee, Senator Roger Wicker, said on Monday that the lawmakers are planning to interview the “admiral that was in charge of the operation”. He added that it was also seeking audio and video to “see what the orders were”.
The Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives also said it would lead a “bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question”.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a body of the highest-ranking US military officers, met both the House and Senate’s armed services committees over the weekend.
Discussions centred around the operations in the region and “the intent and legality of missions to disrupt illicit trafficking networks”, the group said.
Multiple experts who spoke to the BBC have raised serious doubts that the second strike on alleged survivors could be considered legal under international law. The survivors may have been subject to protections provided to shipwrecked sailors, or to those given to troops who have been rendered unable to continue fighting.
The Trump administration has said its operations in the Caribbean is a non-international armed conflict with the alleged drug traffickers.
The rules of engagement in such armed conflicts – as set out in the Geneva Conventions – forbid the targeting of wounded participants, saying that those participants should instead be apprehended and cared for.
Under former-President Barack Obama, the US military came under scrutiny for firing multiple rounds from drones, in a practice known as the “double tap”, that sometimes resulted in civilian casualties.
On Sunday, Venezuela’s National Assembly condemned the boat strikes and vowed to carry out a “rigorous and thorough investigation” into the 2 September strikes.
The Venezuelan government has accused the US of stoking tensions in the region, with the aim of toppling the government.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Trump’s allegations stem from “great envy” for the country’s natural resources.
He also called for a direct dialogue between the US and Venezuelan governments, “to clear the toxic atmosphere we have witnessed since July of last year”.
On Sunday, Trump confirmed that he had held a brief phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in which he pressured him to resign and leave Venezuela with his family.
According to reports, during the call last month, Trump told Maduro that he could go to a destination of his choosing, but only if he agreed to depart immediately. After he refused, Trump posted on social media that the airspace over Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety”.
Maduro requested amnesty for his top aides, and that he be allowed to continue control of the military after giving up the government. Trump refused both demands, according to The Miami Post and Reuters, reporting the BBC has not confirmed.
US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of a “terrorist” organisation called the Cartel of the Suns, which they say includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the claims.
With additional reporting by Lucy Gilder and Thomas Copeland
Costco Wholesale Corp. joined a fast-growing list of businesses suing the Trump administration to ensure eligibility for refunds if the US Supreme Court strikes down the president’s signature global tariffs policy.
The nation’s biggest warehouse club chain is among dozens of companies to file lawsuits in a US trade court since late October challenging President Donald Trump’s use of an economic emergency powers law to impose the levies, according to court records. It’s one of the biggest corporate players to jump into a fight largely driven this year by small businesses and Democratic state officials.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Trump’s tariffs on Nov. 5. The justices put the fight on a fast-tracked schedule but didn’t say when they intend to rule. In the meantime, businesses of all sizes have brought cases pressing similar legal claims with the goal of avoiding uncertainty about their eligibility for refunds if the court rules against Trump.
Costco’s lawyers wrote that the complaint, filed on Nov. 28 in the US Court of International Trade, was prompted due to the uncertainty that refunds will be guaranteed for all businesses that have been paying duties if the Supreme Court declares the tariffs unlawful.
The lawsuit doesn’t specify how much Trump’s tariffs have cost the company to date.
Costco argues that it needs a court intervention immediately because Customs and Border Protection denied its request to extend the schedule for finalizing tariff determinations under Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The company says that could jeopardize its ability to seek full refunds in the future.
Costco didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement that, “The economic consequences of the failure to uphold President Trump’s lawful tariffs are enormous and this suit highlights that fact. The White House looks forward to the Supreme Court’s speedy and proper resolution of this matter.”
Skeptical Justices
During arguments before the Supreme Court last month, key justices appeared skeptical of Trump’s tariffs, which have generated tens of billions of dollars a month. Lower federal courts ruled against the administration in a handful of lawsuits filed early on, but judges have allowed the government to enforce the tariffs until the Supreme Court issues its decision.
Other household names to bring tariff lawsuits in recent weeks include cosmetics giant Revlon Consumer Products Corp. and motorcycle maker Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp.
The expansive, fast-changing tariff policies have disrupted the retail sector this year, threatening to raise prices of goods and hamper the purchasing power of US consumers who are already cautious following years of inflation.
The impact has been more muted than expected due to exemptions and changes in rates after negotiations, though some items such as electronics and apparel are more expensive compared to a year ago. While retailers have warned that they continue to see higher costs, many big operators have not pursued lawsuits like Costco — making it an outlier.
Costco has said it’s working to mitigate tariffs, which primarily affect its non-food items. It has rerouted some products to non-US markets, ordered more inventory early to get ahead of the levies and purchased from fewer suppliers by consolidating buying. When items get too expensive, it’s changing merchandising altogether.
“We’re doing everything we can,” Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said in an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this year. “Whether that’s working with the suppliers to find efficiencies to offset the impact of tariffs, or whether it’s sourcing with them often to different countries.”
For example, Costco said in May that it kept steady prices of pineapples and bananas imported from Central and South America because they are important items to customers. At the same time, it increased prices of flowers sourced from the region because they are less of a necessity to shoppers.
The club chain said its big size and limited assortment — its stores carry a couple thousand items versus over 100,000 for some big-box retailers — give it a leg-up when navigating tariffs. Still, it’s difficult to predict what will happen to prices, company executives said.
The case is Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Customs and Border Protection, 1:25-cv-316, US Court of International Trade.
