Since going into office, one of President Donald Trump’s biggest platforms has been the desire to put higher tariffs on other countries. On Saturday, April 5, 2025, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on China and a 10% tariff on other countries. In response, several countries have already implemented retaliatory taxes on imports with China even stating it will ‘fight to the end’ of the so-called tariff war. 

These tariffs, while impacting international relationships between the United States and other countries, could also impact the prices of everyday and luxury items. Economists expect that the tariffs will reduce consumer spending and economic activities.

 To respond to this, a lot of businesses have had meetings with their investors and put out public statements to let their consumer base know how they will move forward.

Walmart, one of the top retailers in the U.S., publicly addressed concerns at their investor meeting over the two-day investor meeting April 8 and April 9. Two-thirds of Walmart’s products are made and/or grown within the U.S., but for the other third of products, a majority come from either Mexico or China. International relations then hold importance in maintaining prices.

Since consumers often seek out Walmart for their cost-effective prices, keeping prices low during a time of uncertainty is essential for maintaining their consumer base. Since they are a larger corporation with a higher supplier base than most other retailers, they have more room for adjustment than most other businesses do.

“Walmart is leaning into its scale advantage, tech capabilities, and supply chain prowess to lead at a time of heightened uncertainty,” Greg Melich, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said in a note to clients Wednesday.

Even with that, Walmart previously had a less profitable period than expected and had to address those concerns during the investor meeting. Partially, it had to do with changes in insurance and certain products profiting less than expected, which are issues that typically arise for a business of that size and can be worked around.

 However, they have felt the impact of national concerns as well. In addition to the tariffs recently impacting costs and consumer spend, the period of inflation has left consumers being more price-conscious. Consumers would rather spend their money on necessities like groceries and household goods rather than more costly items like electronics and clothes.

“It’s clearly a fluid environment,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillion said. “And while we don’t know everything that’s going to happen, of course, we do know what our priorities are, and we know what our purpose is, and we’ll be focused on keeping prices as low as we can. We’ll be focused on managing our inventory and our expenses well.”

While they cannot currently predict their first-quarter income and have no exact plan on how to move forward to provide for other businesses, based on prior periods of economic uncertainty, they feel they will be able to respond well and end up even in a better place than they started.

“History tells us that when we lean into these periods of uncertainty, Walmart emerges on the other side with greater share and a stronger business,” Walmart’s chief financial officer John David Rainey said.

Walmart shares after their two-day meeting had gone up about 4%, displaying that Walmart has maintained its position with price flexibility and has eased stockholder concerns with their current stance.

As citizens and businesses in the U.S. continue to navigate the higher tariffs and retaliatory responses from other countries that may lead to higher prices on international goods, shares and stocks will continue to fluctuate. While exact business plans are uncertain, even for the retail giants like Walmart, time will allow them to adjust as needed and possibly thrive even in a time where it feels unhopeful.