Walmart just leveled with Americans: China won't be paying for Trump's tariffs, in all likelihood you will

[UpInArms]

Source: Fortune

Voters who returned Donald Trump to the Oval Office in the hope that living costs would return to the halcyon days before the pandemic may be in for a shock.

Arkansas-based Walmart, the world’s largest retailer that traditionally has catered to working and middle-class Americans, warned the President-elect’s plans to hike import duties across the board will be felt by everyday consumers.

“Tariffs are going to be inflationary, there’s no disputing that,” Walmart finance chief John David Rainey told Fox News on Thursday.

That’s not the message the Trump campaign took to the nation during the 2024 election race, however. During the campaign, the former president asked whether voters were better off than they were a little under five years ago, when the seeds of inflation were sown with the outbreak of the COVID virus.
The resounding answer was no, as two-thirds of the population were dissatisfied with the state of the economy. Coast to coast, Americans felt a deep-seated resentment at spiraling prices on everything from gasoline to groceries and restaurant visits.

Read more: https://archive.ph/yPAQa

[Think. Again.]

1. Duh.

[Magoo48]

17. We will not be paying if we refuse to shop there.

[TomSlick]

18. It's not Walmart issue.

Tariffs are paid by the consumer, wherever purchased.

The increase in prices everywhere will result in inflation,

[hlthe2b]

2. DO NOT GIVE THEM ONE IOTA OF CREDIT They made sure they pronounced this AFTER the election.

SOBs... Every one of them. I try hard not to shop at Walmart, but there are things that I can't find elsewhere. sigh... Still, this makes me determined to see if I can live without those few items.

[Probatim]

7. No kidding - they're happy to blame 50% price increases on tariffs of 20%.

All the while, they'll rake in billions in profits and subsidize their payrolls with our tax dollars through welfare benefits.

[FakeNoose]

12. That will happen across the board - every retailer is planning "greed-flation" increases

... because Chump just made it so easy for them.

Anyone who voted for Chump is a complete asshole!

[ificandream]

19. I saw warnings before the election that the tariffs would be inflationary.

The problem was the stupids who voted for him ignored it.

[hlthe2b]

21. Not from Walmart you didn't. Of course any non-moron that knew ANYTHING about how tariffs work

would know that, but few if any retailers of any kind spoke out.

[Basso8vb]

3. I wish I could boycott wally world.

But I already never shop there.

[ificandream]

20. Walmart isn't really the problem, though.

You'll see the effects of those tariffs everywhere - Walmart, Target, Amazon, everywhere people shop. There were voices telling people that the tariffs were gonna cause inflation. But too many people were caught up in Trumpmania to pay attention.

[onecaliberal]

4. We already are. If I knew how to post photos I would show you that my order this week was an increase of 23 dollars even

Though I bought exactly the same things.
It was my last shopping there.

[Ray Bruns]

5. No shit!

[JoseBalow]

6. One of the largest purveyors of Chinese crap

[VMA131Marine]

9. The reality is ...

there are lots of products that are only made in China and when there are domestically made alternatives they cost 3X or 4X more.

And the other reality is we don’t have the workforce to repatriate a lot of that production when unemployment is around 4% and the Orange idiot is talking about deporting 10-20 million people.

Trump’s proposed tariffs along with mass deportation will bring back inflation on steroids. But at the same time it could cause the price of housing to crash because you can’t remove that many people from the population without creating a huge housing surplus.

[C0RI0LANUS]

8. Concur with all above about Walmart.

Thom Hartmann castigated Walmart years ago for destroying independent businesses like Mom and Pop shops throughout the US. People phoned in his radio show and said the same thing: Drive through America and every town looked the same thanks to Walmart, after they wiped out all the unique emporiums and stores many hamlets once enjoyed. I remember as a child the different stores my parents took me to in various villages.

And Walmart reportedly made backroom deals with local municipalities that if they opened up a store, no bowling alleys, arcades, etc could be allowed within a 25 mile radius of their "employment-providing" megastore. Walmart wanted shopping to be the entertainment for the townsfolk. And Walmart would pay teenagers and senior citizens strictly minimum wage.

I usually provide sources to my posts, but this was a radio show from many years ago.

BTW: A small town store somehow survived a Walmart:

https://dianeravitch.net/2022/05/07/how-a-small-town-store-survives-despite-walmart/

Other links about Walmart and the environment and unions:

https://truthout.org/video/on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-walmart-is-one-of-the-world-s-biggest-consumers-of-coal-and-more/

https://www.populardemocracy.org/news/how-walmart-persuades-its-workers-not-unionize

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. Walmart may have to raise some prices if Trump tariffs take effect, CFO says

Consumers will bear the cost of any tariffs.

Link to tweet

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/19/walmart-says-new-trump-tariffs-could-raise-prices.html

Walmart’s CFO, John David Rainey, said the retailer could have to raise prices on some items if President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs take effect.

“We never want to raise prices,” he said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. “Our model is everyday low prices. But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers.”

Rainey added that it’s too soon to say which products could cost more due to the tariffs.

Walmart’s CFO weighed in on the potential policy change as the largest U.S. retailer beat Wall Street’s earnings and sales expectations and hiked its full-year forecast. Lowe’s also addressed the risk posed by the tariff proposal as the home improvement company reported earnings on Tuesday.

Walmart’s and Lowe’s comments are the latest warnings from U.S. retail leaders about the potential blowback from from the duties. During Trump’s presidential campaign, he said he would impose a 10% to 20% tariff on all imports, including levies as high as 60% to 100% for goods from China.

[cstanleytech]

11. Lord forbid that instead Walmart simply sucks it up this time and just reduce its profits a bit instead.

[Windy Apple]

13. They want the...

trump for president, but they don’t want the tariffs !!

[SupportSanity]

14. China has to teach America (Trump voters) about tariffs.

Thanks, China.

[Deminpenn]

15. Said BY Walmart ON FoxNews

That's going to shock the cult.

The morning of the day after the election I was in Walmart picking up a couple things. The store wasn't real busy so I stopped to chat with the greeter. As we're talking, an older woman pushing a cart wheels past. She's obviously happy and asks the greeter if she knows why she, the customer, is so happy. Of couse it was because Trump won and would fix everything. She couldn't wait to get home and have a noisy celebration to annoy her next door neighbor who was apparently a proud, open about it Dem. I said to be a good neigbbor and be gracious. The greeter said something similar, but I'm sure that advice went in one ear and out the other.

I wonder what her reaction was when she tuned in FoxNews and heard Walmart say prices would naturally go up with Trump tariffs?

[sakabatou]

16. We already knew this YEARS ago!

[Bluejeans]

22. I expect Trump's tariffs will cause a "Trump Recession" by the end of 2025

If a "Trump Recession" happens in 2025 due to tariffs, expect the 2026 mid-terms to be a bloodbath for the GOP.

[republianmushroom]

23. This is going to be one hell of an eye opener for those MAGA trump humper.

[mathematic]

24. Well, yes, that's how all tariffs work. Even Biden's.

Tariffs are bad economic policy and you need strong non-economic reasons to even begin to justify putting them in place.