“We hope that the tariffs and the order in full effect will ensure the highest level of innovation, and more choices for consumers,” Aaron Spira, Whirlpool’s chief legal officer, told me in an interview for “PBS NewsHour.”

But so far, the data suggest consumers have been hung out to dry.

This spring, laundry equipment prices skyrocketed 17 percent, the biggest increase on record. It’s hard to see how higher prices expand shoppers’ choices.