Major American retailers Walmart (WMT) and Lowe’s (LOW) raised concerns that President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs would make their products more expensive just as consumers are beginning to recover from the impacts of inflation.
Walmart CFO John David Rainey hinted in an interview with Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi Tuesday that Trump’s tariff promises would prompt the retailer to hike costs, pointing to the impact of higher tariffs enacted during the president-elect’s first term under his “America First” agenda. “If we look back historically when tariffs were enacted seven years ago, it did result in higher prices for customers,” Rainey said.
Trump has promised to implement tariffs at levels unseen since the Great Depression. That would include 10%-20% tariffs across the board and a 60% tariff on goods from China, with such policies pushing down US GDP as much as 2.3% after two years, according to a report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. During Trump’s first presidency, his administration enacted tariffs on thousands of products equating to $80 billion worth of taxes on Americans, the Tax Foundation found.
Following its earnings report on Tuesday, Walmart told Reuters in a statement, “We’re concerned that significantly increased tariffs could lead to increased costs for our customers at a time when they are still feeling the remnants of inflation.”
Walmart spokesperson Molly Blakeman reiterated the sentiment in a conversation with Yahoo Finance Tuesday afternoon.
Blakeman noted that while Walmart sources two-thirds of its products domestically and has been navigating higher tariffs for years, the levels to which Trump has proposed raising tariffs has caused “concern.”
Fellow retailer Lowe’s also noted that Trump’s proposed tariffs would raise the costs of producing goods.
“Roughly 40% of our cost of goods sold are sourced outside of the US, and that includes both direct imports and national brands through our vendor partners,” said CFO Brandon Sink in a call with investors Tuesday. “And as we look at potential impact, certainly would add product costs, but timing and details remain uncertain at this point.”
Both Lowe’s and Walmart reported earnings Tuesday morning.
Trump has suggested using his proposed tariffs to fund government programs rather than income taxes. The president-elect has also said he believes his strategy would support domestic manufacturing, and his campaign has denied that import taxes would create short-term pains for consumers.
On the other hand, the incoming president’s pick for commerce secretary, Cantor Fitzgerald chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick, has contended that the higher duties would result in higher prices, but has also said he believes the tariffs would bolster purchases of domestically produced goods.