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Big-box retailers Walmart (WMT) , Home Depot (HD) , and Target (TGT) are responding to one of President Donald Trump's recent, drastic policy changes, which poses a major threat to their sales.
Over the past few months, Trump has enforced tariffs on foreign countries in an effort to promote U.S. manufacturing. Tariffs are taxes companies pay to import goods from overseas, and the additional cost is often passed down to consumers through price increases.
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“The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory,” said Trump in an interview with Bloomberg News in October.
Related: Walmart doubles down on harsh tactic to shrink threat of tariffs
On April 2, Trump raised eyebrows across the nation when he announced a 10% "baseline" tariff on all countries importing goods to the U.S., with roughly 60 countries seeing higher tariff rates.
However, on April 9, he flipped the switch and enforced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on all countries (except China), dropping them to a universal rate of 10%. He also unexpectedly increased tariffs on China to 145%.
Trump’s tariffs are already causing increased consumer anxiety, which could impact retailers.
According to a recent survey from market research company Numerator, 83% of Americans are changing their shopping habits to prepare for the higher prices Trump’s tariffs could bring. Some of these changes include scavenging for sales and coupons, delaying purchases, buying less imported goods, and more.
Walmart, Home Depot, Target make a bold move
It appears that Walmart, Target, and Home Depot recently caught a whiff of this change in consumer sentiment. The retailers' executives decided to meet with Trump on April 21 to discuss his tariff policy, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
The report said that Lowe’s executives were present at the meeting; however, a Lowe’s spokesperson told TheStreet that they were not.
Spokespeople for Walmart and Target told TheStreet that the meeting with Trump was “productive.”
“We had a productive meeting with President Trump and our retail peers to discuss the path forward on trade, and we remain committed to delivering value for American consumers,” said a Target spokesperson in an emailed statement.
A Home Depot spokesperson said that the company’s CEO, Ted Decker, was in attendance at the meeting and highlighted that the conversation with Trump was “informative and constructive.”
All three retailers recently warned about impact of tariffs
The move from Walmart, Target, and Home Depot comes after all three retailers recently sounded the alarm on the negative impact of tariffs.