- Trump followed through on months of tariff threats, announcing levies on dozens of countries.
- Even before his so-called "Liberation Day," companies warned they would pass costs on to shoppers.
- BI is keeping track of companies that said they'd raise prices due to tariffs.
Companies could — and already have — started raising prices on Americans in response to President Donald Trump's latest slew of tariffs.
While firms raise prices for many reasons, some were blaming hikes on tariffs long before Trump's so-called "Liberation Day." Now that he's announced tariffs on over f180 countries on top of a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, more price increase announcements are sure to follow. Autos, in particular, are an area of focus since Trump announced a 25% tariff on all car imports into the US.
"April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again," Trump said during his remarks.
Some economists have said that Trump's tariffs — and the uncertainty with his overall trade policy — could lead companies to raise prices on the goods they produce. "Both businesses and consumers are getting shaken by this approach," Heather Boushey, an economist who served on former President Joe Biden's Council of Economic Advisors, told reporters on a Tuesday press call.
At the end of 2024, some companies warned that they would consider raising prices on consumers if Trump implemented his broad tariff proposals. While it's still possible they could absorb some of the costs of the tariffs, here are the companies that have warned of price increases.
Conagra
Conagra Brands CEO Sean Connolly told Reuters on April 3 that the food company may have to hike prices to offset the cost of tariffs on ingredients like cocoa, olive oil, palm oil, and a type of steel used for its canned products.
Connolly said that Conagra, which makes products such as Hunt's ketchup and Chef Boyardee, imports tin plate steel for its canned food and tomatoes from Mexico.
It was too early to tell how big price hikes on the company's food products would be, he added. During an April 3 earnings call, he stressed that the trade situation remains "volatile" and changes hourly.
Volkswagen
According to a memo first reported by Automotive News, Volkswagen said it would place an import fee on vehicles made outside of the US in response to Trump's 25% tariff on car imports.
The company said it would provide more details on its pricing changes in response to the tariffs by mid-April.
Best Buy
Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said during the company's March earnings call that Trump's tariff plans are likely to increase prices.
"Trade is critically important to our business and industry. The consumer electronic supply chain is highly global, technical and complex," Barry said. "We expect our vendors across our entire assortment will pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely."
Target
Target CEO Brian Cornell told CNBC in a March interview that Trump's 25% tariff plan on goods from Mexico and Canada would likely result in price increases on produce.
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"Those are categories where we'll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days," Cornell said.
Stanley Black & Decker
Donald Allan, the CEO of the manufacturing company Stanley Black & Decker, said during a February earnings call: "Our approach to any tariff scenario will be to offset the impacts with a mix of supply chain and pricing actions, which might lag the formalization of tariffs by two to three months."
Allan had previously told analysts in an October earnings call that the company had been evaluating "a variety of different scenarios" to plan for new tariffs under Trump.
"And obviously, coming out of the gate, there would be price increases associated with tariffs that we put into the market," Allan said, adding that "there's usually some type of delay given the processes that our customers have around implementing price."
Walmart
Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC on November 19 that the company will likely raise prices if Trump's tariff proposals are implemented.
"We never want to raise prices," he said. "Our model is everyday low prices. But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers."
The company's CEO, Doug McMillan, said during a February earnings call that "tariffs are something we've managed for many years, and we'll just continue to manage that."
Columbia Sportswear
Tim Boyle, the CEO of Columbia Sportswear, told analysts on an October earnings call that the company was "very concerned about the imposition of tariffs. " He said that while he considered Columbia adept at managing tariffs, "trade wars are not good and not easy to win."
Boyle also told The Washington Post in October that the company was "set to raise prices."
"It's going to be very, very difficult to keep products affordable for Americans," he said. He later said in a February interview with CNBC that "we need some surety about what is going to happen" before making price changes.
AutoZone
Philip Daniele, the CEO of the auto-parts company AutoZone, told analysts on a September earnings call that tariff policies had "ebbed and flowed over the years," and if Trump implemented more tariffs, "we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer."
"We generally raise prices ahead of that," Daniele said, adding that prices would gradually settle over time. "So, that's historically what we've done," he said.
Trump's 25% tariff on car imports is expected to increase manufacturing costs by anywhere from $4,000 to $12,000.
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