US retail giant Walmart will absorb some of the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. In a phone call with company CEO Doug McMillon, Bessent said Walmart will “eat some of the tariffs” in line with Trump’s demands.
The announcement comes as Walmart prepares to raise prices for consumers starting later this month due to the cost of the president’s tariffs on international trade. Despite this, Trump tweeted that the company should absorb the tariffs without passing them on to customers.
Bessent denied this, saying Walmart is promising to absorb some of the tariffs but had not changed its position. The company’s chief executive McMillon stated in an earnings call last week that Walmart could not absorb all the pressure from the tariffs and would begin to raise prices towards the end of May.
Trump’s trade policy has been widely criticized as flawed and unworkable, causing chaos with higher prices, crashing stock markets, and slowing economic growth. The president later announced a 90-day reduction in tariffs on China but followed up by announcing new unilateral tariff rates.
Bessent said the US is focused on its “18 most important trading relationships” and expected trade talks to continue with several countries leading to regional deals.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/18/trump-walmart-tariffs