'Eat The Tariff' - US President Donald Trump To Walmart Over Price Hike Expectations

Trump Warns Walmart: In a first, U.S President Donald Trump schooled the largest retailer in the U.S, Walmart, for blaming an upcoming rise in prices as a direct result of his tariff linked policies.

In his recent social media post, Trump shared that Walmart was quite capable of absorbing tariff induced pressures, while echoing that retail major should, "EAT THE TARIFFS".

Trump's comments came right after Walmart indicated a price hike on cards due to fresh duties being placed on imported products.

Taking to Truth Social, he said," Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. 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," it said.

In response, Walmart said it has and will continue to works with an aim to keep its prices as low as possible, while adding that this practice will not stop.

"We’ll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins," the company said in a statement to Reuters.

How Badly Has Trump's Tariffs Hit The Retail Sector? 

Recently, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon informed that the retailer could not absorb all the tariff costs because of narrow retail margins. Even so, he said, the Walton family owned firm was committed to make sure that tariff-related costs on general merchandise, which majorly comes from China, would not drive food prices higher, according to an Reuters report.

Many U.S. firms have either chose to cut or pull their full-year expectations amid friction between the U.S. and its trading partners, especially China, as consumers curtail spending.

As a trendsetter of U.S. consumer health, Walmart's explicit statement about the impact of tariffs is a significant signal for how the trade war is affecting the U.S retail vertical. Walmart is noted for its ability to manage costs more aggressively than other companies to keep prices low.

Every week, 255 million people shop in its stores or place orders online around the world, and 90  per cent of the U.S. population lives within 16 kms of a Walmart.

Walmart's disclosure comes about three weeks after a published report that Amazon opens new tab planned to disclose how much Trump-imposed tariffs were adding to the costs of its products.

The White House took a similar approach and has also blasted off at the e-commerce giant over the report, which the company promptly denied.