
A GOP lawmaker insisted Walmart would "lower prices," moments after the retail corporation's chief financial officer warned that President Trump's tariffs remain "too high" and will impact pricing.
Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC on Thursday that while the company has managed to keep inventory moving, it's struggling to predict consumer demand and navigate the uncertainty of Trump's shifting tariffs.
"We've not seen a period where you've had prices go up this high, this quickly," Rainey stated. "We're well equipped and experienced in dealing with elasticities or price increases that are going up 2- or 3%, but not 30%," he continued in a clip circulating on X.
Walmart CFO John David Rainey: "We've not seen a period where you've had prices go up this high, this quickly. We're well equipped and experienced in dealing with price increases that are going up 2 or 3 percent, but not 30 percent." pic.twitter.com/L3Gz3CMsfk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 15, 2025
CNN anchor John Berman interrupted his interview with Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr to inform him that Rainey had just declared Walmart would have to raise its prices because of the tariffs, despite Trump's commerce secretary stating otherwise.
"The bottom line is this president has given himself leverage to create better or reciprocal trade deals," Barr began before Berman cut him off to ask, "What about Walmart?"
"Walmart will lower prices in the long run. Prices will come down lower in the long run because we're gonna get better deals," Barr said while stumbling through his response.
The Republican lawmaker then stated India, "the most populous country on planet Earth, the largest market is going to go to 0 on tariffs... You're talking about massive market access historic market access for American exporters."
CNN: Walmart just said it's going to have to raise some prices because of the tariffs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 15, 2025
REP. ANDY BARR: Walmart will lower prices in the long run pic.twitter.com/EuXnP2QP5c
On Thursday, President Trump claimed India agreed to impose "basically zero tariffs" on U.S. goods. However, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar later refuted the statement, clarifying that trade negotiations are still ongoing.
"Nothing is decided until everything is," Jaishankar said, according to the BBC. He emphasized that any eventual agreement must be mutually beneficial and serve the interests of both countries.
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