Leadership representatives from Walmart, Target, and Home Depot were part of a discussion at the White House, according to a report by Retail Dive.
Jim Joice, Target’s spokesperson, said in an email, “We had a productive meeting with President Trump and our retail peers to discuss the path forward on trade, and we remain committed to delivering value for American consumers.”
The meeting comes amid recent tariff changes that have affected prices for customers in the US.
There is growing concern among retailers about the tariffs affecting the holiday season sales, including back-to-school, Halloween, and other major Q4 holidays.
Earlier this year, Best Buy and Target issued a warning to customers over potential price increases due to additional tariffs that have been recently implemented.
“We’ve never seen this kind of breadth of tariffs. This, of course, impacts the whole industry.” Corie Barry, CEO of Best Buy, said on an analyst call, according to CNN.
Matt Bilunas, CFO of Best Buy, added, “The giant wildcard obviously is how the consumers are going to react to the price increases in light of a lot of price increases potentially throughout the year and a general consumer confidence that is showing a little sign of weakness at the moment.”
Recently, tariffs were raised to 145% on imported Chinese goods. However, changes are anticipated to take place over the next few weeks.
Additionally, consumer sentiment in the US has dropped in recent months due to the potential financial headwinds from tariffs.
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