Walmart quietly jacks up prices — despite Trump's demand for retailer to ‘eat the tariffs'

New York Post

2 days ago

Walmart has quietly been hiking prices on items ranging from toys to office supplies, with some markups reportedly climbing more than 100% — despite President Trump's demand for retailers to 'eat the tariffs.'
Photos circulating online, particularly on the Walmart subreddit, have documented the dramatic price hikes since the White House imposed a 145% tariff on imports from China in early April, before lowering the levy to 30% last month.
The price of toys, the bulk of which are made in China, were particularly impacted.
5 A fishing reel is on sale at Walmart for a whopping $83.26.
Reddit/Majestickenny12
A 'Jurassic World' T. rex rose from $39.92 on April 27 to $55 by May 21 — an increase of nearly 38%. Price tracking site AisleGopher shows the same item cost $29.74 in November.
A 'Baby Born' doll jumped from $34.97 in March to $49.97 in May, a roughly 43% rise, while a Lite Brite Magic Screen set moved from $14.97 to $21.97 (up nearly 47%). The popular Etch A Sketch jumped from $14.97 to $24.99 — nearly a 67% increase.
The price on some office supplies also surged, with a roll of tape that previously sold for $4.24 soaring to $9.94, a 134% spike.
Other notable hikes include a heating pad rising roughly 25%, from $19.98 to $24.96, and a fishing reel surging from $57.37 in April to $83.26 in May, a 45% increase. That same reel was listed for $51.12 as recently as mid-March, according to AisleGopher.
5 'Baby Born' dolls have seen prices rise by more than 40%.
Reddit/Plus_Astronaut_420
The Post reached out to Walmart for comment.
Walmart's Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey acknowledged the hikes and called them 'unprecedented,' according to Business Insider, which first reported on the backlash over the increases.
'We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we won't stop,' a spokesperson told the outlet
5 The price of a 'Jurassic World' T. rex toy at Walmart rose from $39.92 on April 27 to $55 by May 21 — an increase of nearly 38%.
Reddit/Nvalee
'We'll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins.'
The Arkansas-based retail giant posted profits of $15 billion-plus last year, according to The Post's Charles Gasparino, who last week reported that stores were not going to swallow the cost of tariffs for long.
Trump has demanded that Walmart and other retailers 'eat the tariffs' rather than pass costs on to consumers, publicly rebuking the company after its CEO warned it may soon raise prices due to rising import levies.
The Post reached out to the White House for comment, which deferred to comments made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday.
5 The White House has touted what it calls encouraging economic indicators since President Trump rolled out sweeping tariffs.
REUTERS
Bessent told CBS's 'Face the Nation' that inflation is down despite concerns over tariffs.
Last week, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditure index, decreased to 2.1%, its lowest level in seven months.
'Thus far there have been no price increases,' Bessent said. 'Everything has been alarmist, that the inflation numbers are actually dropping. We saw the first drop of inflation in four years. The inflation numbers last week, they were very pro-consumer.'
In a statement on Thursday, White House spokesman Kush Desai pointed to what he called encouraging economic indicators.
'Americans have now seen multiple expectation-beating inflation and jobs reports since President Trump took office, with the prices of essentials like eggs down an astonishing 61%,' Desai told The Post.
'The Trump administration remains committed to deploying a full suite of supply-side reforms including rapid deregulation, tax cuts, and domestic energy production to deliver economic relief for the American people.'
5 'We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we won't stop,' a Walmart spokesperson said.
AFP via Getty Images
Retail experts caution that while tariffs are likely a factor in these hikes, they may not be the only reason for the increases.
Companies adjust prices for a wide range of reasons — from supply chain disruptions to shifts in demand — and publicly listed prices do not necessarily reveal how much of the change is directly attributable to tariffs.
Still, the timing of the hikes has renewed attention on Trump's trade war and its lingering effects.
According to Walmart, about 60% of the products it sells in the US come from domestic suppliers.
The company has spent years trying to reduce its dependence on Chinese imports.
Despite that, analysts say it's nearly impossible for big-box retailers to fully shield themselves — or their customers — from the financial fallout.
David Bellinger, a retail analyst at Mizuho Securities, told clients on Wednesday that he expects the broader impact of tariffs on consumer spending to remain relatively small — perhaps just a low-single-digit percentage.
But for individual items, especially those sourced from China, the effect may be more pronounced.