Massive price hikes at Walmart as company blames Trump

Walmart, the retail giant known for its slogan “Save money. Live better” and its promise to offer low-cost products to improve its customers’ lives, has just announced a notable turnaround.

By the end of the month, Walmart plans to impose major price hikes, citing tariffs that have simply become “too high”, a direct consequence of the trade war launched by Donald Trump since his arrival in the White House, according to the multinational.

According to CNN, the company’s CEO, Doug McMillon, said Walmart simply couldn’t absorb all the pressure, given the reality of tight margins in the retail sector.

According to the company’s CEO, the many tariffs imposed worldwide, notably in China, Costa Rica and even Peru, are leading to high costs in several product categories, particularly electronics, toys and many foods.

Walmart’s CEO announced that by the end of May, consumers would see significant price increases in its stores, adding that the situation would worsen next month, when we’d “certainly much more in June”.

While the company had welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily ease the trade war with China by reducing tariffs from 145% to 30% as part of a 90-day truce agreed in May, Walmart believes that current levels are still “too high”.

By comparison, under the Biden administration, tariffs had remained relatively stable at around 20%, with only a few targeted increases on strategic products such as electric vehicles and semiconductors. Since then, Donald Trump responded and hurled at Walmart to “eat the tariffs”.