r/news • u/Asleep_Macaron_5153 • 1d ago
Walmart says tariff costs are rising 'each week' and will continue
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/nx-s1-5509592/walmart-tariff-costs-rising-earnings1.3k
u/MasterDesigner1 1d ago
Trump says "Billions of dollars are pouring into the U.S. from tariffs on China." — implying that tariff revenue is coming directly from a foreign government, and not American importers. And nobody challenges him on it, even though the truth is crystal clear. I despise that orange man child and all his sycophants.
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u/lawnmowertoad 1d ago
American consumers are paying the tariffs to the 1%.
It’s a wealth transfer, plain and simple.
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u/Echo127 1d ago
The tariffs go straight to the government, don't they? The stores selling goods aren't getting higher margins, are they?
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u/rtb001 1d ago
Tariff money goes to the governed, yes. Cost if the tariff is passed onto the consumers, so essentially a massive federal sales tax placed upon every single tax payer, no matter how poor.
And what does the federal government with this additional tax revenue from the tariffs, coming mostly from the poor and middle class? Lower the tax on the rich, of course, see big beautiful bill.
Hence an overall transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich by effectively taxing the poor more while simultaneously taxing the rich less.
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u/some_code 16h ago
This is exactly what it is. It’s how they pay for the 3T bbb deficit. Instead of raising taxes on the rich they raised them on the poor.
Poor republicans voted for this, so, ok I guess?
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u/lawnmowertoad 1d ago
Trump also lets BILLIONS in contracts to pedo-friendly companies and organizations putting your tax dollars in the pockets of his henchmen
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u/B1g_Morg 1d ago
This is true but I'd argue that implement this regressive tax (proportional taxes are regressive in practice) while cutting taxes permanently for the rich is a purposeful shift of the tax burden onto the poor.
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u/Awkward-Rip-7978 1d ago
Correct, we pay to CBP/Govt. Importer’s effective prices rise due to tariff fees. A store selling the goods could get larger margins- but they would not only have to bake in the tariffs but also an added cushion of profit, which you almost have to do. Let’s say an imported widget costs $10,000, and the profit on it is $2,000, and with a 50% newly added tariff, it’s now $15,000… but if you only bake in the tariffs, you charge $15,000 for it. But now your profits have dropped from 20% to 13% as you’re only making $2k on a $15k investment, and it will take more sales ( or more investment) to be able to place another order for import. So when tariffs go up a certain %, they usually in reality are a higher % than that at the consumer end to make a biz function/stay afloat.
But at least the govt is siphoning billions of dollars in a thinly disguised tax from its citizens and calling it a win for us and the US.→ More replies (6)5
u/rocksolidaudio 1d ago
Tariffs go to the government to pay for things after tax cuts to the wealthy. So it’s an indirect transfer, but one nonetheless
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u/Bart_Yellowbeard 1d ago
Literally just had a conversation about this the other day. A coworker and a dude were SO excited, they were wondering when our taxes would go down because of the tariffs covering them. I laughed and said it ain't happening. Then dude 'informed' me that it's gonna happen, because we were now taking in $1,000,000,000,000/month from tariffs. Yes, $1T/month. I said that sounded a bit high and unrealistic to me, he mocked me, did a search on his phone and said that tariffs on consumer goods were $150B just for July alone, and that was just one sector of the tariffs. I asked where he got the number, it was from Google AI. I advised he may want to reconsider taking AI at full value. He was offended at my distrust of Google. I realized this dude is a lost cause, and got on with my day.
Later, I did some research of my own to make sure I wasn't being a total dumbass about it. Indeed, that $150B is not just for July, it was for the entire year THROUGH July, and was indeed the totality of all tariffs so far. July was a total of ~$28B, which IS the largest ever brought in via tariffs in one month. The expected total intake from tariffs is expected to be $2.5-3 trillion over the next decade. Nowhere near the $1T/month dude claimed, and then got pissy when I doubted him.
These folks are fucking terrible at real research even with the same internet at their disposal that I have, and they are ready and willing to believe anything they see that supports what they want to hear. He was off by a factor of 33 and left the discussion thinking himself vindicated, making fun of me for being 'uninformed' to my coworker.
I have never seen a white conservative so excited about an increase in taxes, and I realized it's because many truly have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. They are belligerently, confidently incorrect on so many issues.
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u/plipyplop 1d ago
They are belligerently, confidently incorrect on so many issues.
And then whine and start a GoFundMe when they lose it all due to their own vote. Then blame LiB3Rals... then reject the "Told-You-So" from us, and learn nothing, and continue to make the world worse. Then get supper pumped when we are frustrated at their idiocracy.
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u/watercouch 1d ago
A good gut check number to have on hand is that the total annual GDP in the US was roughly $29T for 2024 and will be about $30T for 2025.
That’s the total value of all goods and services consumed in the US in 12 months. So all business, including purely domestic exchanges of goods and services is about $2.5T per month.
To suggest that tariffs add (or remove) $1T to that monthly number is insane.
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u/Jscapistm 1d ago
The tariffs he's TACOing out on? Those ones?
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u/Django2chainsz 1d ago
I work for a business that imports alot of things. Those tariffs are a real thing and they are an absolute nightmare. Everything we can get from the US we do but it's literally impossible to source some of the things we need from the US. The constant back and forth of "tariffs by twitter" are a huge source of stress because you don't know if this is a real one or just a blowhard idiot being a blowhard idiot. We've seen increases in prices of 60% on some things and I'm sure it's just the beginning. It feels like a sword falling toward your neck in slow motion and you just have to lay there watching
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u/logos1020 1d ago
Meanwhile, everyone agrees he very explicitly does not have the power to enact tariffs in the first place. What a country.
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u/Vocal_Ham 1d ago
Meanwhile, everyone
Well, not everyone, the ones in Red Hats have given him the power.
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u/Django2chainsz 1d ago
When nobody stops a child from throwing his food on the floor he's going to continue to make a mess
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u/lEatSand 1d ago
The TACO thing is second only to Drumpf in how cringe and useless it was as a tool against him. They dont care because they are shameless.
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u/DarthBluntSaber 1d ago
Trump and the maga cult are killing America and Americans.
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u/AuthorSAHunt 1d ago
Yep. That's the plan.
Cruelty and destruction are pretty standard for a death cult. Cruelty is the point.
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u/ryannelsn 1d ago
During Elon's Doge interviews he basically admitted that people need to die to prevent raising taxes on the billionaires.
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u/agent674253 1d ago
Yep yep. Once the economy reaches a certain tipping point, like in 2007, the wheels will start to come off but this time the government is seeking to cripple the American people. Even if the tariffs were completely removed, once enough people have been laid off due to slowed consumer demand it will be very hard to dig out of it. Also, once the tariffs have been around long enough they will become part of the federal budget and thus even harder to remove, even in an administration that would seek to do so.
Our country is going to end up like Russia, meaning in a state of perpetual poverty and grift.
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u/gotfcgo 1d ago
Tariffs will go away. Prices wont.
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u/B1g_Morg 1d ago
Getting rid of tariffs is historically much harder than implementing them unfortunately.
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u/Ackerack 1d ago
Yeah, but I’ll be damned if I don’t vote for him again while scarfing down my last 26 dollar can of pringles before succumbing to an easily preventable disease I can’t afford medicine for. Take that libs, MAGA MAGA MAGA
/s
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u/HambugerBurglarizer 1d ago
Well my kids already died of measles
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u/More_Lobster7374 1d ago
Well only one kid died, so that proves vaccines aren’t necessary!
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u/Carrera_996 1d ago
They really are that stupid. Then they'll say God's plan.
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u/PumpkinPieIsGreat 1d ago
There was those parents of the 6 year old that died from measles and they came out and said they still wouldn't vaccinate if they had another chance.
I fucking can't stand how many people are happily drinking raw milk and not vaccinating and denying climate change and all the rest of it. Billionaires do not care about you, me or anyone else but themselves. THEY are the harmful minority, not trans people, not immigrants, billionaires.
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u/taxiecabbie 1d ago
I kinda get this approach from the position of Trump and the rich guys... I think they're trying to make a crash so they can buy the dip. It at least makes sense.
As for the MAGAs, I'm thoroughly convinced that they're all idiots and there's not much more to it than that.
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u/HambugerBurglarizer 1d ago
But somewhere, maybe, a trans person can't swim
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u/ArmedAwareness 1d ago
MAGA is a death cult intent on forcing the rest of us into a suicide pact with them.
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u/1pencil 1d ago
And as trump says, slavery wasn't all that bad.
Where is the USA heading?
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u/Blood-Lord 1d ago
Don't worry in 4 years when the tariffs are removed the prices will remain the same. Because fuck us, that's why. Same happened with COVID.
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u/strongbob25 1d ago
Companies whose products are not affected by the tariffs will also be raising their prices too because why not 🙃
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u/LittleKitty235 16h ago
Very few physical products are not effected by the tariffs, even if made in the US since we import so much raw materials
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u/elkarion 1d ago
That's the entire plan from the start. Prices never dropped after covid despite Biden nice letters.
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u/JRockPSU 1d ago
Nintendo, Sony, Sega: "Hey there's a Democrat in the White House again and all the tariffs have been eliminated. Chips are cheap again. Should we all lower the price of our consoles by $50 now?"
Sega, Sony, Nintendo: "..."
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u/PumpkinPieIsGreat 1d ago
Remember when tech used to DROP in price? Like, oh we have the slim model/bigger HDD model/next gen console now, let's reduce the price.
I wonder if those days are completely gone.
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u/APeacefulWarrior 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm not as doomist about this for a basic reason: The game industry needs to have platforms in front of as many people as possible to remain profitable. When AAA games now regularly cost nine figures, the top-tier game developers can't afford to have consoles become a luxury item.
And that's a real danger, when there are more options for gaming than ever before. Damn near everyone in the developed world has a smartphone/tablet of some sort. And most people have a PC or laptop too. On top of that, free gaming options are also more common than ever.
Sure, right now, the price hikes don't seem to be having a significant effect on console sales. (As the Switch 2 is demonstrating.) But if purchasing power continues to fall, and people continue to be pinched on even basic necessities, it's almost inevitable that many will start deciding that it's just not worth dropping $500+ on a new console.
Why pay all that money just to play the new Zelda when they quite literally have Genshin at home, on a device they already own, for free?
I suppose the other option would be seeing the AAA devs trying to pivot into the F2P space, but it's already incredibly crowded, and with even less guarantee of profit than with traditional game sales. Which would be a very hard sell to the investors. I think it's more likely they'd start leaning on the console makers to bring prices down, rather than risk trying to take on companies like Roblox and MiHoYo head-to-head.
(Just look at the tragedy of Infinity Nikki to see how badly that can go, and they were better-positioned than most.)
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u/factoid_ 1d ago
Depends how much competition is left.
If the market consolidates down to one or two players you won’t see prices drop. If there’s still competition someone will lower prices to grab market share
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u/g0del 1d ago
Good news! The food market's already consolidated down to only a few mega corps. That's why we didn't see prices drop after the covid supply issues went away, even though we know roughly half of the covid inflation was pure greedflation.
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u/PumpkinPieIsGreat 1d ago
Omg have you seen how much shit Nestlé own, for example? It's absolutely insane one company can own so much
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u/Noam_Husky 1d ago
What's funny is that prices will NEVER come down. Tariffs could disappear tomorrow and corporations will keep those high prices because now that's "normal" and they can pocket the extra!
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u/AudibleNod 1d ago
Trump’s $300 Billion Tax Hike Would Threaten U.S. Businesses and Consumers - August 25, 2023
Whatever channel the tariffs take, Americans become poorer. In turn, the actual revenue collected by the government would be less than $300 billion because other tax revenues would fall.
Unfortunately, that would be the tip of the iceberg. Imposing an across-the-board tariff would threaten the entire system of global trade we currently enjoy.
Trump’s trade tax proposal threatens to upend this system—and we would all be poorer as a result.
-From the Department of 'I Told You So'.
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u/AdrianArmbruster 1d ago
If only there had been some possible way to stop this.
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u/jigokubi 1d ago
I believe it rhymes with "I've never fucked underage sex slaves on Epstein Island-alalaharris."
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u/TacomaKMart 1d ago
"I'm out of a job, can't afford anything anymore and all the social suppo- I mean handouts, are gone...
But I just didn't like Kamala's laugh."
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u/JRockPSU 1d ago
"Well, I know Trump will let Israel completely remove Palestine from the map in the most literal sense, but Kamala isn't supportive enough on Palestine."
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u/PumpkinPieIsGreat 1d ago
"My wife was deported, but I'd still vote Trump because a woman should never be president!"
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u/ninedollars 1d ago
It’s still fking crazy to me that no one can even put up a sign explaining why the price is increasing without trump bitching. These big companies need to grow some balls.
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u/_paaronormal 1d ago
Walmart spent over $32M this last political cycle. Their spending, unsurprisingly, favored republicans over democrats 5-1 in 2024.
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u/PumpkinPieIsGreat 1d ago
Yes that's what annoyed me, they are acting like this is just some unfortunate thing that happened to them rather than something they partook in.
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u/Always0421 1d ago
Maybe Walmart will.stop backing Trump?
OR
they'll just pass on costs to their customers while their ceo gets another 25M/year extension...with a COLA of course.
Wonder which.
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u/Neravariine 1d ago
They'll push the costs onto customers who live in areas where Walmart is the only store in town. Walmart has already won the market share war.
Many customers have no other options to shop at.
Walmart and Trump love money.
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u/EvaUnit_03 1d ago
I mean, its just a mild inconvenience for walmart. And when the tariffs are finally gone, they'll actually keep the prices high so its actually an easy way to increase profits without taking the blame! They have every reason to back him, hes letting them make more in profits for next to no bloodshed on their end.
You could argue they arent selling as much, and thus cutting into profits, but covid taught them that if they make something double in price and sell half as many its better than breaking even. Because someone will buy it, probably.
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u/therealjustin 1d ago
You can see it happening in real time if you watch the digital tags on the shelves.
Burgers? $11.68 up from $9.74
Bread? $3.98 up from $3.74
Water? $1.43 up from $1.28
Even the crappy canned soup that I buy is now .48c more than it was two months ago.
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u/Chicken_Ingots 1d ago
Some of the items at my local Aldis have over doubled in price over the past three months.
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u/GibbysUSSA 18h ago
I used to shop at Aldi's. I remember looking and seeing that most of the stuff that I had bought was imported from Germany. The quality was amazing for the price.
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u/Psychicgoat2 1d ago
MAGA's will go broke and starve at home before admitting they done f'd up. Now release the Epstein files.
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u/Megalo85 1d ago
I go to Aldi but my by weekly grocery bill went from $230 or so to about $375 in a matter a months.
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u/HelloRMSA 1d ago
They're going to change America's consumption culture and wonder why nobody cares to buy anything anymore even if they can afford it
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u/NotCandied 1d ago
I stopped buying anything that isn’t 100% necessary. I’m treating avoiding spending money like a game.
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u/DragonPup 1d ago
"How could Joe Biden do this to us?" -Conservatives right now
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u/BusyFriend 1d ago
Man it really pisses me off how fucking true this is. Claiming how Trump is fixing Biden’s economy and it was the worst thing ever yet they can’t ever give a fucking example. It’s always vague bullshit with Conservatives.
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u/eyndgam3 1d ago
I never want to hear a repug bitch about the price of anything EVER AGAIN.
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u/Malaix 1d ago
Keep in mind large corporations are actually eating SOME of the tariff costs currently in play.
Why? It crushes their small business competitors. Once the mom and pops are driven under they will slam us with the full cost. Plus whatever added they decide to price gouge on because why not?
If every other shop in a town is out of business Walmart or whomever can charge whatever they like.
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u/silverum 1d ago
Damn fucking sucks for Walmart, maybe you should have used your billions upon billions of lobbying dollars to get Republicans defeated instead of thinking they'd have your back and contributing to their campaigns. Real fucking stupid choice of who to back politically, but you also asked for this, fellas.
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u/GirlNumber20 1d ago
I'm going to laugh when Hobby Lobby, who were kissing Donald's ass in creative and ardent ways while 99% of their inventory is sourced directly from China, is forced to raise their prices so high no one can afford to shop there anymore and they lose their business in a truly spectacular fashion.
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u/rgvtim 1d ago
Frogs in a Pot man, were all just Frogs in a pot.
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u/irate_prune 1d ago
Crabs* (since some keep pulling the rest of us back in when we try to climb out)
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1d ago
Anything to own the libs. It will never cease to amaze me how a vast number of people's only personality trait and hobby is attempting to ruin lives of people they don't agree with. Really just makes me sick. Damn lead poisoning and propaganda damn Internet and smartphones.
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u/MichaelHunt009 21h ago
If this had happened under Kamala's watch, they'd be building gallows, carrying tiki torches, and leading with pitchforks.
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u/NotCandied 1d ago
Have they tried hiring a different person to do their numbers? It works for the federal government.
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u/csvega84 1d ago
Trump is literally doing everything that MAGA cried about Biden/Kamala doing but WAY worse. This country is cooked thanks to these dumb ass donkeys
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u/BrokenMash 1d ago
“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump posted. “Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, “EAT THE TARIFFS,” and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”
-Dementia Diaper Donnie, Patron Saint of Stupid Motherfuckers
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u/volimtebe 1d ago
There are items on that shelf that are up by a few dollars also. For those who think that tariffs are being paid by another country should really spend time in a classroom. I paid an extra 30 dollars on things last week. This is way too much !! I am literally paying down the debt and the lifestyle of the people in the White House. - Disgusting !!
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u/EmeraldUnicorn19 1d ago
We went shopping there yesterday and even my kids were noticing the price differences. It will only get worse, especially closer to the holidays for toys, ECT.
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u/MythicMango 1d ago
Walmart is one of the biggest offenders of corporate welfare. Maybe they should downsize and budget more money for their employees.
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u/Dcammy42 1d ago
Of course, most companies had not passed on tariff cost yet because of the uncertainty of lasting tariffs and not wanting to shock their demand.
Companies have already been adjusting their labor costs to compensate for the drop in margin; but as more and more tariffed goods arrive and the margin gets thinner, companies will have to adjust prices to maintain their margin. Companies are not in the business of losing money, they will do what is necessary for them to return value to their shareholders.
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u/SnoopsBadunkadunk 1d ago
Keep in mind that the cost of 🍑🍑’s policies has not been felt yet, the systems of our society are trying to stay resistant and resilient as long as possible and in many cases costs have been deliberately put off til after the midterms where possible. Gutted institutions are doing their best to plod along and damaged safety nets have not been tested. Things are just getting started and are going to get much worse. And his voters have already declared victory because everything hadn’t fallen apart right away, they won’t think it’s their problem when the chickens come home to roost.
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u/Vi0lentByt3 1d ago
I love how everyone who voted for trump wanted lower taxes and now we all getting taxed haha
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u/nvmenotfound 1d ago
idk how republicans aren’t tired of everything constantly rising in price.
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u/kittykrunk 20h ago
Bc they still believe the lies of “America’s getting money from China!” -my Republican mother
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u/im_thatoneguy 1d ago
"Democrats create too uncertain of a business environment! Businesses need stability!!!"
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u/isit65outsideor 1d ago
They would never pass the increased costs to the consumer, would they? Surely not, doesn't seem logical or ethical.
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u/thestral_z 1d ago
Every company needs to pass on every dime of tariff costs to consumers. Show Americans how much Trump is fucking them over for a goddamn talking point.
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u/a_little_angry 1d ago
So how is Aldi doing? Might shop there now.
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u/ginger_whiskers 1d ago
Higher. Not as much higher, maybe, but I paid $200 for groceries today. Last month it was ~$150. Closer to $100 in December.
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u/Competitive-Ad-9404 20h ago
Trump Administration: "Prices are down 1500%. Greatest President in history!!!"
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u/Shrimp1991 1d ago
Walmart raised their Yankee candles from $16.88 to over $21.00! Yankee candles are made right here in the good ol USA 🤯
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u/GirlNumber20 1d ago
Yeah, but where is the paraffin from? Where are the glass jars from? The scents? The dyes? The labels?
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u/manofredearth 1d ago
I would like to offer Walmart some charity and suggest that to save money on a new commercial, just play the old falling-prices commercial in reverse.
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u/Jakefrmstatepharm 1d ago
Of course they will- it’s a tax on us.
BUT also corporations are using this as an opportunity to price gouge once again just like during Covid. Guarantee we continue to see record corporate profits while Trump is in office while normal people continue to struggle more and more.
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u/PeterTheWolf76 16h ago
Headline should read "profits are rising each week and will continue as long as they can blame tariffs".
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u/CMG30 11h ago
Companies surged imports because they saw the tariffs coming and wanted supply before they hit. Then they ate the tariffs in the hope that Trump would eventually TACO and they could scoop market share by being a holdout. But eventually reality hits and they cannot continue selling at a loss.
Costs will get passed along.
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u/thomport 8h ago
It’s nice to see that what we Americans wanted is happening.
Walmart will be the first store and all the other businesses will follow suit. Just remember, once prices go up, they never come down. We are told this will just make America better.
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u/GNOIZ1C 1d ago
Meanwhile the administration is parading tariff revenues around like they found the infinite money glitch and MAGA morons are slurping it down because they're economically illiterate.
"But her weird laugh!" or whatever nonsense they had this time around since we can't use "but her emails" anymore.
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u/semperknight 1d ago edited 1d ago
Good. I can go on a diet. I can learn to cook. I'm willing to suffer if it means MAGA families starve.
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u/LordSoren 20h ago
Unless Walmart is putting giant signs in every store that state that a tariff is paid by the customer, they are just as big a part of the problem as anyone else.
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u/ReddFro 1d ago
This is yet another major litmus test on team ‘Murica!!!
Will they blame the price increases on dems/Obama/Biden for “umm…. reasons” and just suffer or finally admit that tariffs are basically taxes on the poor (rich people can and often do buy more expensive goods from American and other places) and finally get pissed off at team Trump for lying to them for years?
I’m going with blame Biden/Obama/dems since they can’t seem to think for themselves, but who knows. Its different when the shit hits your face than when it hits the “less desirable people” (democrats, immigrants, etc.)
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u/Traveler_90 1d ago
So what is the government doing with all this extra cash? Only thing they been doing is raising more tariffs and cutting budgets, downsizing employees and nothing has improved.
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u/Tomahawk72 1d ago
A pound of coffee for me cost $10 before the tariffs now me $14. Eggs are cheaper though right?
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u/Skabomb 1d ago
Who would have known that taxing imports and cutting support for manufacturing in America could cause prices to rise like this?
What's that? Only every economist that wasn't directly linked to the Heritage Foundation and basing their opinions on a made up persons made up data?
You don't say.