Treasury Chief Bessent Acknowledges American Consumers Will Pay Price for Trump Tariffs

The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, acknowledged Sunday that Walmart, the largest American retailer, may pass along some of the costs from President Trump’s tariffs to its shoppers through higher prices.Mr. Bessent described a call with the company’s CEO a day after Mr. Trump warned Walmart to avoid raising prices from the tariffs at all and vowed to keep a close watch on what it does.Mr. Bessent pushed back against inflation concerns, praised the uncertainty caused by Mr. Trump as a negotiating tactic for trade talks and dismissed the downgrade Friday of American government debt by Moody’s Ratings.Walmart does not appear prepared to “eat the tariffs” in full, however, as Trump has insisted the company and China would do.Mr. Bessent said he spoke Saturday with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, stressing in two news show interviews that what he thought really mattered for Walmart customers was the decline in gasoline prices. Gas is averaging roughly $3.18 a gallon, down from a year ago.“Walmart will be absorbing some of the tariffs, some may get passed on to consumers,” Mr. Bessent said on CNN. “Overall, I would expect inflation to remain in line. But I don’t blame consumers for being skittish after what happened to them for years under Biden,” a reference to inflation hitting a four-decade high in June 2022 under President Biden.Walmart did not comment on Mr. Bessent’s description of his conversation with Mr. McMillon.In a social media post on Saturday morning, Trump said Walmart should not charge its customers more money to offset the new tariff costs. “I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!” he posted.Mr. Bessent said Walmart on its earnings call on Thursday had been obligated under federal regulations “to give the worst-case scenario so that they’re not sued,” suggesting in an NBC interview that the price increases would not be severe in his view.But Walmart executives said last week that higher prices began to appear on their shelves in late April and accelerated this month.“We’re wired to keep prices low, but there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,” Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said Thursday.On tariffs, the Trump administration is still trying to determine rates with roughly 40 major trading partners before a July deadline. It’s also in the early stages of a 90-day negotiation with China, after agreeing a week ago to reset tariffs on that country from 145 percent to 30 percent so that talks can proceed.Mr. Bessent said any worries about tariffs by small business owners most likely reflected the higher rate previously being charged on China. Still, the uncertainty has been a major drag for consumers and businesses trying to make spending plans in the weeks, months and years ahead.“Strategic uncertainty is a negotiating tactic,” Mr. Bessent said. “So if we were to give too much certainty to the other countries, then they would play us in the negotiations.”

Treasury Chief Bessent Acknowledges American Consumers Will Pay Price for Trump Tariffs

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