President Donald Trump will meet with major retailers on Monday after the National Retail Federation (NRF) announced it does not back the president’s reciprocal tariff policies.
A White House official told Reuters that the president will meet Monday afternoon to discuss his tariff policies; the meeting will includes representatives from Walmart, Home Deport, Lowe’s, and Target. Walmart confirmed that its CEO, Doug McMillon, would attend the meeting.
More than half of Walmart’s imports are from China, while Home Deport and Lowe’s also import from the country.
A March report found that Target relies on China for 30 percent of its merchandise, and the Alliance for American Manufacturing stated that Chinese goods comprise 70 to 80 percent of Walmart’s merchandise, leaving less than 20 percent for American-made products.
In late March, Target reportedly pushed its Chinese suppliers to absorb some of the cost of Trump’s tariffs, following the lead of Walmart and Costco.
Quartz reported in late March:
In one case, a Chinese supplier of hairpins and claw clips said Target (TGT) requested they “pick up half the costs of the tariffs.” After attempting to negotiate, the supplier saw delays in their order and ultimately lost the business. Target has not responded to Quartz’s multiple requests for comment.
Currently, there is a 20% tariff on all Chinese imports, impacting around $430 billion worth of goods. Target does not operate any physical stores in mainland China, but says it has worked to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports, cutting the share of its goods from China from 60% to 30%.
After Trump announced his reciprocal tariff policies, the National Retail Federation, the trade association for the largest retail corporations, said that tariffs would lead to higher costs.
“Tariffs are a tax paid by the U.S. importer that will be passed along to the end consumer. Tariffs will not be paid by foreign countries or suppliers,” David French, its government affairs lead, said in a written statement.
As – News has frequently reported, economists at the Federal Reserve and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found minimal pass-through into broad inflation.
“President Trump has a mandate from the American people: bring jobs home, end our dependence on China, and restore American manufacturing. Big Retail is now seeing the cost of inaction as they fail to get on board with the America First agenda,” a Republican operative told – News in a statement. “Americans made it clear they support American manufacturing, and Big Retail will pay the price if they continue to outsource to China,” a Republican operative told – News in a statement.
