Walmart exec says Trump tariffs might hike prices

A top Walmart official on Tuesday said the retail behemoth might have to raise prices on some items if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his tariff plans.

Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said the company would avoid hikes where it can, given its mantra of “everyday low prices.”

“But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers,” Mr. Rainey told CNBC.

Retail executives and foreign nations are preparing for Mr. Trump’s stated goal of imposing 10% tariffs on all imports and heavier levies on Chinese goods.

Tariffs are a form of tax or duty on imports.

Mr. Trump says tariffs will force companies to keep their operations in the U.S. and employ American workers while creating revenue to fund domestic programs. The U.S. relied on tariffs as a primary source of government revenue until the federal income tax was imposed in the early 20th century.

While tariffs hurt foreign countries by making their products more expensive and harder to sell in the U.S., foreign countries don’t pay the tariffs directly to the U.S. Treasury. Companies in the U.S. pay the levies and decide whether to pass along the cost to consumers in the form of higher prices.

The National Retail Federation has decried the Trump tariffs as a tax on American families.

Mr. Rainey said two-thirds of Walmart’s goods are made or assembled in the U.S. and would avoid tariffs. The company is also accustomed to some level of tariffs and doesn’t rely too heavily on China.

“We’ve been living under a tariff environment for seven years, so we’re pretty familiar with that,” he said. “Tariffs, though, are inflationary for customers, so we want to work with suppliers and with our own private brand assortment to try to bring down prices.”

Elsewhere, Swiss officials said Tuesday they’re concerned about the looming tariffs and their impact on their country’s export-heavy economy. Switzerland wants to discuss possible countermeasures with U.S. officials.

“Switzerland is concerned about Donald Trump’s announcement to impose additional tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S.,” a spokesman for the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs told Reuters. “Switzerland clearly rejects the plans.”