The US Treasury Secretary admitted that due to the government's tariff policy, consumers are footing the bill for Walmart's price hikes
China News Service, May 19th According to US media reports, US Treasury Secretary Basent admitted on the 18th local time that due to the government's tariff policy, US retail giant Walmart may pass on some of its costs to consumers by raising prices.
Bessent also said that he had a conversation with Walmart CEO MacMillan, but made no comment on the content of the conversation.
It was reported that Walmart CEO Mike Millan said at the earnings call last week, "We will do our best to keep prices as low as possible." However, considering the scale of tariffs and the reality of meager retail profits, we cannot bear all the pressure either.
Walmart's Chief financial Officer, Rennie, said, "Our intention was to keep prices low, but our affordability is limited, and this is true for any retailer." Renny also said that Walmart's price adjustment is likely to take effect at the end of May and prices will "rise significantly" in June.
In response, US President Trump posted on social media on the 17th local time that Walmart should not charge customers more to offset the new tariff costs.
However, economists told CNN that tariffs would impose a burden on middle - and low-income Americans, who have traditionally been Walmart's main customer base. Walmart has more than 4,600 stores in the United States, and its goods come from countries such as Canada, India, Mexico and Vietnam.
CNN also pointed out that in recent months, the trade war of the US government has severely undermined consumer confidence. The University of Michigan reported that the consumer confidence index dropped by 2.7% between April and May, approaching the historical lowest level, partly due to Americans' concerns about an economic recession.
China's new energy vehicles are redrawing the global automotive industry landscape.
In response to differences through dialogue, the China-Us economic and trade talks have made substantive progress
Related Article
