The CEOs of two large retailers in the United States say shoppers are likely to see prices rise as a result of the tariffs Donald Trump placed on Canada and Mexico, and his hike in levies on China.
The warnings from the CEOs of Best Buy and Target, reported by CNBC, contradict the president’s assertion that the costs of his trade war will not be borne by US consumers, who rebelled against his predecessor Joe Biden after the US economy was hit by its worst bout of inflation in decades.
“Those are categories where we’ll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days,” Target CEO Brian Cornell told the network in an interview. “If there’s a 25% tariff, those prices will go up.”
I’d call “leopards,” but this is also a good excuse for retailers to collectively raise prices, and lower forecast expectations.
Mark my words, Target and Best Buy are going to have some “good” quarters, maybe fire some people, and the leadership will get pats on the back (and bonuses).
Probably, but the big box retailers have an amazing fall guy for higher prices.