One of the largest retailers in the United States, Walmart, has announced plans to raise prices as a result of President Donald Trump’s high tariff policies.
John David Rainey, Walmart’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), mentioned in an interview with CNBC on the 15th (local time) that the burden of tariffs remains significant, stating, “American consumers are likely to see Walmart’s price increases starting the end of this month or next month.”
CFO Rainey added, “We will do our best to keep prices as low as possible, but given the severity of the tariffs, we cannot absorb all the (price increase) pressures, even at the level of the recently announced (China-related) tariff reduction (from 145% to 30%) considering the reality of low retail margins.”
If Walmart’s price hikes materialize, it’s feared that this could impact other major retailers, leading to a broader increase in consumer burdens across the U.S.
Meanwhile, the United States and China, during high-level talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 10th and 11th, agreed to reduce tariffs imposed on each other by 115 percentage points for 90 days. Nevertheless, the U.S. still imposes a 30% tariff on China and applies a 10% basic tariff to most countries starting from the 5th of last month.