Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend said Walmart (NYSE:WMT) should absorb his import duties, and warned the retail giant against raising the prices of its products, which the company said it will do due to the levies.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent parroted Trump’s warning during an NBC interview on Sunday.
Trump said in a social media post that Walmart should “STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain… Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, “EAT THE TARIFFS,” and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”
Trump’s warning comes just days after Walmart warned during an earnings call that it will be increasing its prices due to the impact of steep U.S. import tariffs, especially against China.
“Given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure,” Walmart senior vice president Stephanie Schiller Wissink said during an earnings call last week.
Other retailers, including footwear maker Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK), also announced price increases due to Trump’s tariffs, while Nintendo Co Ltd (TYO:7974) warned that its upcoming videogame console, the Switch 2, could cost substantially more in the U.S. due to import duties.
The U.S. and China had last week announced a major deescalation in their bitter trade war, which will see the U.S. slash its tariffs on China to 30% from 145%, while Beijing lowered its U.S. tariffs to 10% from 125%, at least for the next 90 days.
But the tariffs on China, which is a major source of imports, still remain relatively high. Additionally, Trump’s sectoral tariffs, including duties on automobiles and commodity imports, are also expected to ramp up import costs for businesses, who in turn could pass them on to customers.
While Walmart sources a bulk of its items from the U.S., the retailer still depends on China for the import of several baby products, as well as items such as plastics.