TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Walmart officials said American tariffs on Chinese imports will soon trickle down to millions of customers and those price hikes could be here in just a few weeks.
NBC News reported possible increases to bananas, coffee, avocados, and flowers due to tariffs on countries where the U.S. gets those products. But Walmart leaders said they could change prices on other products that might now have a tariff applied to them as well.
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“We’ve not seen a period where you’ve had prices go up this high this quickly,” said John David Rainey, Walmart’s Chief Financial Officer.
Some shoppers at the Dale Mabry Walmart said they’ve seen prices creep up over time, but they want to know exactly how much more they could be paying.
“It’s supposed to be for low-income individuals that are struggling. Inflations already up. That’s not a good sign for people with average incomes and (who) aren’t doing too great right now,” said one Walmart shopper.
There’s a lot of uncertainty. Rainey described the challenge of not knowing what the demand will be in order to help manage the flow of inventory.
Earlier this week, President Trump and the Treasury Secretary reached a deal to lower the tariff on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%.
University of South Florida Economics Professor Christopher Jones said there is nothing that will kill an economy’s growth faster than uncertainty in the marketplace, when it comes to price ranges.
“Their only option is to pass along the level of that tax to consumers, because otherwise they might lose money on the sale of those items,” Jones said. “I think what Walmart is doing as the world’s largest brick and mortar retailer is setting a message saying, ‘Mr. President, please make a decision and stick with it, because if you continue to do this, it’s going to rock the marketplace all the way down to the consumer’.”
Rainey acknowledged the progress and said he appreciates the Trump Administration’s efforts to get the tariffs to their current level.
“It’s still too high for consumers. We’d like to see them come down more,” Rainey said.
But most people don’t need a CFO to tell them that. Take it from the millions of customers who rely on the brand “Save Money. Live Better.”
“They got to keep those prices down for people,” said a Walmart shopper.
Jones encourages people to do what they need to do for the here and now but recommends holding off on big ticket purchases out of Walmart, he said until the dust settles and there is a better idea of where the tariffs will sit.
