Walmart CFO: We'll Likely Hike Prices if Trump Brings in Tariffs

Walmart had a better-than-expected third quarter, but consumers might not reap the benefits of that for long if President-elect Trump's threatened tariffs on imports come to pass. Trump said during his campaign that he plans on imposing a 10% to 20% tariff on imports in general, with fees as high as 60% to 100% if those goods come from China. Now, Walmart CFO John David Rainey is weighing in on what that could mean for consumers—and it's not looking good in the short term. "Tariffs will be inflationary for customers," he tells the AP. He adds, per CNBC: "We never want to raise prices. Our model is everyday low prices. But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers." More:

• Walmart II: Rainey says that, to ready for possible new tariffs or port strikes, Walmart has over the past few weeks expedited some import deliveries. However, he also notes that about two-thirds of the products that Walmart sells are made in the USA, meaning they wouldn't be subject to tariffs.

• NRF: Earlier this month, Matthew Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation, issued a red flag about potential tariffs, calling them "a tax on American families" and noting they would "drive inflation and price increases and will result in job losses," per CNBC. An NRF study from earlier this month noted that tariffs could cost consumers an additional $46 billion to $78 billion annually, per Axios.
• Other companies: Walmart isn't the only company warning of higher prices should the Trump tariff proposal come to pass. Lowe's CFO Brandon Sink said on a Tuesday earnings call that tariffs "certainly would add product costs"; execs from AutoZone, Columbia Sportswear, and Stanley Black & Decker made similar statements.
• Trump team: Trump's incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, defends the plan. "In his first term, President Trump instituted tariffs against China that created jobs, spurred investment, and resulted in no inflation," she said, per Business Insider, adding that Trump will "work quickly" to decrease taxes and create more US jobs.

(More tariffs stories.)