Finally, at the link, I see someone mention the value drop of the US dollar. Your dollar has lost ground against many other currencies. As an example, for the longest time, one US dollar was worth around $1.15-1.20 Canadian. For several days, a Canadian or Australian dollar has been worth $1.05 US dollars. That's almost a $0.40 drop for the US over the last few years. Your imports are going to cost you more, depending on which countries you're doing business with, and the strength of their currencies.