Walmart needs to remember who has the real power

WALMART last week warned that tariffs will force it to raise some prices. Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump hit back, telling the world’s largest retailer to “eat the tariffs”.

But while the president might have the bark, it is Walmart’s customers who have the bite – literally and metaphorically – when it comes to eating tariffs. Americans have the power to abandon retailers, food manufacturers and even high-end boutiques that engage in “greedflation”, just as they did in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That would do more to force companies to absorb the levies than any Trump outburst.

Walmart is the wrong target for the president’s ire. The chain is known for helping its customers save money. True to form, chief executive officer Doug McMillon said Walmart would not allow the higher import costs on clothing and home furnishings – the categories most exposed to the trade war because many are manufactured in China – to influence the amount it charged for food.