Walmart asking Chinese suppliers to cut prices and offset Trump tariffs- Bloomberg
Investing.com-- Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT ) is keeping the pressure on its Chinese suppliers to cut prices and offset the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs despite pushback from Beijing, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The retail giant has not backed down from requests for suppliers to cut prices by as much as 10% for each round of Trump’s tariffs, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
This comes even after Beijing summoned Walmart executives last month to discuss the issue.
Walmart’s demands essentially shift all of the burden of Trump’s tariffs onto its Chinese suppliers. The world’s largest retailer had first requested price reductions from its manufacturers in February after Trump’s first round of Chinese tariffs, and had repeated the request in March.
Trump had imposed 20% tariffs on China in early-March, and is expected to impose even more duties on Beijing.
The U.S. President is set to unveil his plans for reciprocal trade tariffs against major U.S. trading partners later on Wednesday, with reports suggesting that he could impose a universal 20% tariff on all U.S. imports.
Trump’s tariffs will also be at their highest possible amount, with targeted countries able to reduce the tariffs by lowering their own duties on U.S. goods, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly said.
China in particular is expected to be a major target of Trump’s tariffs, given that the country commands a massive trade surplus with the U.S.