The Commerce Department's latest data reveal a precipitous 0.9% contraction in US retail sales for May, compounding April's more modest 0.1% dip, a downturn widely ascribed to a pronounced slump in automotive sales following a March surge driven by anticipatory purchasing intended to circumvent President Trump's proposed 25% levy on imported vehicles and automotive components; notwithstanding a discernible erosion of consumer confidence, persistently subdued inflationary pressures coupled with a robust employment landscape may serve to sustain temperate levels of expenditure in the near term, while a 0.4% expansion in sales excluding volatile sectors such as gasoline, automobiles, and restaurants intimates a continued, albeit selective, appetite for discretionary consumer goods, with online retailers, apparel vendors, and furniture outlets exhibiting notable growth despite widespread sectoral declines, and the overall diminution in retail activity increasingly attributed to apprehensions surrounding tariff-induced price escalations.