Tariffs: An Uninvited Valentine's Day Guest

A senior man carries flowers and a gift behind his back to surprise his wife.

Between tariffs on imported products and weather-related challenges impacting crops, both flowers and chocolate have seen steep price increases ahead of Valentine's Day. For couples, that means the go-to gift to show your love is going to stretch your budget even thinner this year.

If you want your loved one to feel special but you don't want to break the bank to do it, you'll have to get a little more creative this year to pull it off.

Here's a closer look at which gifts have seen the biggest price hikes and what you can do to keep your budget intact this Valentine's Day.

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Valentine's Day price hikes have multiple causes

A perfect storm of forces has resulted in soaring prices for many of the traditional gifts to give your loved one ahead of the romantic holiday. One of those forces is tariffs.

"Tariffs are driving up the cost of flowers, chocolate, and other Valentine’s Day products, raising prices for consumers and squeezing businesses during one of their most important sales periods of the year," said Tariffs Cost US, a campaign tracking the impact of tariffs on businesses and consumers.

As much as 80% of the cut flowers sold in the United States are imported, primarily from South America. So it'll be hard to find a bouquet that hasn't been impacted by the tariffs. Meanwhile, cocoa is only grown abroad, meaning all of the cocoa used in the United States is imported.

Between January and September of last year, the overall effective tariff rate surged from just 2.2% to 10.65%, according to analysis from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. But tariffs on chocolates and flowers may be even higher, depending on the specific country they were imported from.

Meanwhile, prices on the Valentine's Day staples are being driven up even further by a streak of bad weather. Both flowers and chocolate are extremely weather-dependent commodities. After a period of drought and high temperatures in 2023, for example, the resulting production declines caused cocoa prices to soar from around $4,000 per ton up to $12,000 in 2024. While they've since fallen back down to the low $4,000s, that's still more than double pre-pandemic prices.

Cut flowers, on the other hand, are a delicate crop that can be damaged by extreme weather even after a good harvest. When fresh cut flowers are exposed to freezing temperatures, they become brittle and vulnerable to frost burns. The further a shipment travels — such as a batch of flowers traveling from South America to North America — the more chances there are for extreme weather to damage the goods.

So, the recent cold snap that swept across much of the United States was detrimental to local sources of the Valentine's Day staple and made imported sources more vulnerable to damage. The result? Flower prices are up as much as 15% in some markets.

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas to Beat the Price Hikes

If you don't want to eat the tariffs this Valentine's Day, there are other ways you can treat the ones you love to something special. Here are a few ideas you can try:

Opt for chocolate-free candies instead

If the surge in cocoa prices has made you cringe at the price of your go-to box of chocolates, you might need to get a little more creative this year by grabbing a non-chocolate candy that your loved one will appreciate.

You can grab some of these Valentine's Day themed candies that are a cheaper alternative to the classic heart-shaped box of chocolates:

A heart-shaped box of gummies: Valentine's Peelable Gummy Candy Hearts in Heart Shaped Box - 1.76oz - Favorite Day, $1.59
Zero-effort home-baked cookies: Puff Cookies Cookie Dough Love Bomb Sugar Cookie - 10.35oz/12ct, $6.59
A Valentine's Day classic: Sweethearts Valentine's Retro Candies Box - 4.5oz/5pk, $4.49
Heart-shaped gummies: Valentine's Red and White Sour Sanded Hearts Candy - 6oz - Favorite Day, $4.00
Heart-shaped marshmallows to pair with hot cocoa: Valentine's Pink and White Mini Heart Marshmallows - 2.1oz - Favorite Day, $3.99

Pick up treats from a local bakery instead of chocolates

Another way to skip the chocolate without showing up empty-handed this Valentine's Day is to check out a local bakery. Trade the chocolate for a holiday-themed cupcake or a mixed box of pastries. You'll be supporting a local business, beating the tariffs and surprising your loved one with a treat that feels even more special than the standard chocolates.

Get creative when assembling a bouquet

Tariffs and cold weather have driven prices up across all cut flowers, but some are still more expensive than others. Instead of a dozen red roses, then, ease the strain on your wallet this year by mixing fewer roses in with some alternative, cheaper flowers that complement the roses while bulking up your bouquet.

Get a potted plant from a local nursery instead of cut flowers

There are a lot of perks to skipping the bouquet altogether and going for a locally-sourced potted plant. First, locally grown means you're skirting the impact of tariffs on the price tag. Secondly, a potted plant lasts longer than a bouquet.

There are plenty of flowering potted plants to choose from, ranging from miniature roses that will still have that traditional Valentine's Day feel to attractive succulents that would be a great choice if your loved one doesn't exactly have a green thumb.

Go to a "U-Pick" flower farm for a Valentine's Day date

The easiest way to make sure the flowers you buy this Valentine's Day aren't imported is to pick them yourself from a local farm. Depending on where you live, there may be some of these open right now, despite the chilly weather.

If you're in one of the warmer parts of the country, search for a "U-Pick" flower farm near you and make a date out of it. You and your loved one can wander through fields of flowers to craft the perfect bouquet. Then, get hot cocoa or cider to warm up afterward. Just make sure to call ahead first as some local farms have been impacted by the recent cold snaps.

Rachael Green is a personal finance eCommerce writer specializing in insurance, travel, and credit cards. Before joining Kiplinger in 2025, she wrote blogs and whitepapers for financial advisors and reported on everything from the latest business news and investing trends to the best shopping deals. Her bylines have appeared in Benzinga, CBS News, Travel + Leisure, Bustle, and numerous other publications. A former digital nomad, Rachael lived in Lund, Vienna, and New York before settling down in Atlanta. She’s eager to share her tips for finding the best travel deals and navigating the logistics of managing money while living abroad. When she’s not researching the latest insurance trends or sharing the best credit card reward hacks, Rachael can be found traveling or working in her garden.