KSHB 41 reporter Abby Dodge covers consumer issues, personal budgeting and everyday spending. Share your story idea with Abby.
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In an interview with CNBC Thursday morning, Walmart’s Chief Financial Officer, John David Rainey, said the company will likely increase its prices.
“I just don’t think it’s fair,” Carmen Balderas said as she shopped Thursday at Walmart's Neighborhood Market in Mission. “You know, we get paid so little… it’s just hard to live.”
The move is a reaction to tariffs on goods that reached 145%, but now sit closer to 30%.
NBC reported at the height of tariffs on Chinese goods, Walmart’s toys and technology were impacted the most.
With a 90-day pause of tariffs, Rainey said there is still too much ground for retailers to absorb.
“To be able to manage their margin, they are going to look across all categories or products and ones that look at the elasticity of the demand for those products,” he said. “Maybe change prices on other products that might not have a tariff applied to them.”
Shopper Alessandra Barrios said she is already picking up extra jobs to make ends meet. Price hikes were not the news she was looking for.
“That would create more problems for us to get by day by day,” Barrios said.
There are still many unknowns, according to Rockhurst University Accounting, Finance and Economics department chair, Anthony Tocco. It is unclear how long the tariffs will last and what sort of deal the countries will reach.
Tocco is sure price surges will start small and increase as Americans wait on a trade deal.
“It’s going to be incremental, because we don’t know how long these tariffs are going to last, we really don’t,” Tocco said.
He said shoppers have not seen the true impacts of inflation on tariffs just yet. But, countries are motivated to find a resolution.
“Tariffs are bad for every country," he said. "Not only our country, it's bad for them too. Things will get settled.”
Target and other retail giants are expected to discuss similar topics on their earnings calls over the next few weeks.
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