Empty shelves at Walmart and Target? It could happen according to its CEOs

Back on April 2, US President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14257 - a move to regulate the import of goods into the United States with reciprocal tariffs as a means to hit back at countries that have imposed unfair trade barriers on US goods.

Markets and retailers react to Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

The Trump administration assures that the “reciprocal tariff” strategy will not only re-balance the country’s goods trade deficit but will ultimately lead to the reindustrialization of the United States. There have also been claims that the new import duties will raise around $600 billion a year—approximately $6 trillion over the next decade.

A universal 10 percent tariff on all imported goods will take effect on April 5, followed by a series of tariffs on imports from various countries starting April 9. These tariffs range from 15% to goods entering the US from Venezuela to an eye-watering 125% on Chinese imports.

Some US retail chains have expressed concerns that these radical new measures could disrupt supply chains, leaving them unable to stock shelves with goods that traditionally have been imported from China and Mexico.

Walmart, Target and Home Depot CEOs visit the White House

Three of the country’s top retail CEOs: Walmart’s Doug McMillon, Target’s Brian Cornell and Home Depot’s Ted Decker – met with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday to discuss their fears about how the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs could impact stores.

“We had a productive meeting with President Trump and his team and appreciated the opportunity to share our insights,” a Walmart spokesperson said. A Home Depot spokesperson added that the meeting was “informative and constructive” in declarations to Reuters while Target confirmed its CEO was in attendance at the “productive meeting with our retail peers to discuss the path forward on trade, and we remain committed to delivering value for American consumers.”

Both Target and Walmart source around 50 percent of their merchandise from China - the country facing the biggest rise in import duties. Both chains warned that higher import tariffs will also lead to higher in-store prices as the hikes will be passed on to consumers.

Trump told reporters this week that he expects the massive 125%-145% tariffs on Chinese imports will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”

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