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Dennis Donovan

(31,059 posts)
Sat May 17, 2025, 01:45 PM May 2025

AP: Trump warns Walmart: Don't raise prices due to my tariffs but do eat the costs from those taxes

AP - Trump warns Walmart: Don’t raise prices due to my tariffs but do eat the costs from those taxes

By JOSH BOAK
Updated 2:39 PM EDT, May 17, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday ripped into Walmart, saying on social media that the retail giant should eat the additional costs created by his tariffs.

As Trump has jacked up import taxes, he has tried to assure a skeptical public that foreign producers would pay for those taxes and that retailers and automakers would absorb the additional expenses. Most economic analyses are deeply skeptical of those claims and have warned that the trade penalties would worsen inflation. Walmart warned on Thursday that everything from bananas to children’s car seats could increase in price.

Trump, in his Truth Social post, lashed out at the retailer, which employs 1.6 million people in the United States. He said the company, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, should sacrifice its profits for the sake of his economic agenda that he says will eventually lead to more domestic jobs in manufacturing.

“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump posted. “Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, “EAT THE TARIFFS,” and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

The posting by the Republican president reflected the increasingly awkward series of choices that many major American companies face as a result of his tariffs, from deteriorating sales to the possibility of incurring Trump’s wrath. Trump has similarly warned domestic automakers to not raise their prices, even though outside analyses say his tariffs would raise production costs.

/snipA
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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AP: Trump warns Walmart: Don't raise prices due to my tariffs but do eat the costs from those taxes (Original Post) Dennis Donovan May 2025 OP
We used to bash Walmart for raising prices during inflationary period. trump has turned everything around. Silent Type May 2025 #1
OOPS......too late vapor2 May 2025 #2
Response from Walmart jmowreader May 2025 #3
Good on Walmart BOSSHOG May 2025 #4
That's satire stumpysbear May 2025 #8
Mump can Eat Shit and Cha May 2025 #5
Trump Rebl2 May 2025 #6
But, I thought China was going to be paying those tariffs. GoCubsGo May 2025 #7
Maddow Blog-By trying to bully Walmart, Trump gives away the game on his tariffs agenda LetMyPeopleVote May 2025 #9
+1. dalton99a May 2025 #10
Another example of Krasnov showing us all how stupid he is. GoodRaisin May 2025 #11
 

Silent Type

(12,412 posts)
1. We used to bash Walmart for raising prices during inflationary period. trump has turned everything around.
Sat May 17, 2025, 01:51 PM
May 2025

jmowreader

(52,901 posts)
3. Response from Walmart
Sat May 17, 2025, 02:08 PM
May 2025

BENTONVILLE, AR (Spurious News Network) — The Walmart Home Office has released a statement in response to King Donald Trump’s edict that the retail giant “eat” Trump’s tariffs rather than passing them on to consumers:

“President Trump, there’s a problem in your demand. Walmart simply can’t ‘eat’ your tariffs and survive. We are comfortable with a 24.9 percent profit margin and work hard to keep it about that. This allows us to operate our stores, keep prices low for the benefit of our customers, and provide a reasonable return to our investors. Your tariffs are higher than that - in some cases, radically higher. If we don’t pass your tariffs on to our customers, we’ll be out of business before the end of the year. This would be more of a problem for the people we serve than higher prices would be. We must respectfully decline to do as you demand.”

BOSSHOG

(44,738 posts)
4. Good on Walmart
Sat May 17, 2025, 03:34 PM
May 2025

Interpreting trump. Don’t dare blame me for bad things that happen because I do stuff. Millions of stupid people voted for me. Walmart was very successful last year. Now they should do the right thing. Save me from myself. The leader of the party of responsibility.

Rebl2

(17,404 posts)
6. Trump
Sat May 17, 2025, 03:48 PM
May 2025

You just got back from a long trip. Why don’t you take a nap and stay off social media today

GoCubsGo

(34,668 posts)
7. But, I thought China was going to be paying those tariffs.
Sat May 17, 2025, 03:49 PM
May 2025

I wonder if The Imbecile realizes he just admitted that it's really the importers, who then pass it off to their consumers.

LetMyPeopleVote

(174,963 posts)
9. Maddow Blog-By trying to bully Walmart, Trump gives away the game on his tariffs agenda
Mon May 19, 2025, 10:32 AM
May 2025

If Trump were right about foreign countries paying tariffs, why is he demanding that Walmart simply “eat the tariffs”? Because he’s wrong about the basics.

By trying to bully Walmart, Trump gives away the game on his tariffs agenda - MSNBC

apple.news/ABKcQqIWIS7y...

(@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-05-19T13:52:23.601Z



https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trying-bully-walmart-trump-gives-away-game-tariffs-agenda-rcna207634
Last week, Walmart became the latest high-profile national retailer to announce that Donald Trump’s trade tariffs were poised to push consumer prices higher. In fact, the price hikes are poised to reach the public very soon: David Rainey, the behemoth’s chief financial officer, told CNBC on Thursday that Walmart would likely start rolling out tariff-related price hikes “towards the tail end of this month, and I certainly expect more in June.”

As The Washington Post reported, the president did not take the news well.

President Donald Trump over the weekend admonished Walmart for warning that his tariffs could force a price increase, urging the world’s biggest retailer to simply absorb the consequences of his trade war. ... The president responded Saturday, posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Walmart should ‘EAT THE TARIFFS’ and ‘not charge valued customers ANYTHING.’


......When it comes to the president’s approach to the issue, he has repeatedly pushed a simple claim: Foreign counties pay the tariffs. That’s never made any sense, and everyone who’s ever taken an Economics 101 course has tried to explain how absurd this belief is, but Trump — whose capacity for confusion about the basics of trade policy is endless — has nevertheless clung to the assertion, telling the public that tariffs on China, for example, lead Beijing to put money in American coffers. That’s long been absurd, but the Republican has long been impervious to the policy details.

Trump’s latest online statement, however, gives away the game: He apparently now realizes, at least on some level, that his tariffs are responsible for pushing Walmart’s costs higher, and the retailer now intends to push its prices higher as a result.

The president wants Walmart to simply “eat the tariffs” — meaning, Trump wants the company to profit less in order to accommodate the tariff-related costs. Time will tell whether Walmart follows the White House’s lead......

But again, the dust-up itself served as a reminder to Trump that it’s American businesses and American consumers that feel the pinch from his tariffs.

It was against this backdrop that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the Senate floor in late April, calling on companies to do what Amazon was prepared to do. “To the large businesses that sell to consumers, I say: Show your customers how much tariffs are hurting in their pocketbooks,” the New York Democrat said. “People deserve to know the impact tariffs have on their finances. ... And it’s also small businesses: They don’t want to get blamed for hiking prices when Donald Trump’s tariffs have put them in a terrible position — in a position that says, raise your prices of close your doors. They hate doing either.”

A week later, congressional Democrats introduced legislation to codify this idea into law, unveiling a bill that would require retailers to display costs that reflect Trump-imposed increases. Although the legislation will never be seriously considered in a Republican-led Congress, the effort itself should be part of an educational campaign for the president, which seems to be working, slowly but surely.

GoodRaisin

(10,735 posts)
11. Another example of Krasnov showing us all how stupid he is.
Mon May 19, 2025, 10:46 AM
May 2025

He should be told to go back and finish his promise to negotate deals with 90 countries.

Add this to his list of broken promises. What a weak, horrible fucking leader.

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