NPR.

One of the big economic surprises this year is how long it took tariffs to hit consumer wallets.

The key word here is consumer wallets.

If you're, say, a car company, then, well, tariffs have been expensive.

That bill will likely be around $30 billion for the carmakers this year, according to Moody's.

And that will likely end up on the consumer side eventually with higher car prices.

Now, there is a solution for carmakers, and it gets to one of the main objectives behind

tariffs, buy American.

Foreign automakers already have huge assembly plants in the U.S., but lots of parts and

materials come from overseas.

So to avoid these costly tariffs, why not just switch to buying those parts from an American supplier?

Easy, right?

But how do you actually meet those U.S. companies for everything from raw steel to finish parts to staffing?

Well, there's always speed dating.

This is The Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Stephen Besaha.

And I'm Waylon Wong.

On today's show, we go to an auto manufacturing speed dating event

to see if tariffs can really lead to a spark between carmakers and U.S. suppliers.

And we learn why supply chain matchmaking is less quick playing than long courtship.

We've got to pitch this to Netflix, Stephen.

Love is blind. Move on over.

Come on in, find your buyers.

...