Home Depot said it’s keeping its prices steady, after President Trump berated Walmart for warning of forthcoming price hikes related to tariffs.
The home improvement retailer said it’s both working with suppliers to hold prices where they are and is also moving production out of China, to avoid steep levies. A 30% tariff is currently in effect on most goods from China.
“Because of our scale, the great partnerships we have with our suppliers and productivity that we continue to drive in our business, we intend to generally maintain our current pricing levels across our portfolio,” Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail told CNBC.
More than half of the goods Home Depot sells are domestically produced. The company is aiming to further reduce its reliance on China and other countries. Within a year, no country outside of the U.S. “will represent more than 10%” of purchases, McPhail said.
Home Depot’s commitment to avoiding price hikes comes after Walmart last week warned that even lower tariffs on China would force the world’s largest retailer to raise prices on certain items.
“We can control what we can control,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the company’s first quarter earnings call on May 8. “Even at the reduced levels, the higher tariffs will result in higher prices,” he added.
President Trump later berated the company for saying that tariffs would lead to price hikes for consumers.
“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. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Data shows that businesses typically pass on some or all of increased costs from tariffs to consumers. And while economists agree that tariffs hit U.S. companies and their customers hardest, the White House has repeatedly asserted that the burden should fall on the U.S.’ trade partners.
“He maintains the position that foreign countries absorb these tariffs,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters at a briefing on Monday.
