Lowe’s and 5 More Companies Set To Raise Prices on These Popular Items Due to Trump’s Tariffs
Written by
Jordan Rosenfeld
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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Retailers like Best Buy, Lowes and Walmart are popular with consumers because they sell some of the most coveted products people want and need at affordable prices. If you enjoy buying such things as clothing, furniture, household appliances and toys, you may want to do so before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January 2025.
One of Trump’s most talked about campaign promises has been the tariffs he plans to impose on goods imported into the U.S. from countries such as China, Mexico and even Canada.
While the intention may come from the right place — to shift more production out of those countries and into the U.S. — in the meantime, many companies will most likely have to pass the cost of those tariffs onto the consumer.
The companies poised to raise prices are those that make many of the most popular products consumers buy, according to a study by the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s, “Estimated Impacts of Proposed Tariffs on Imports: Apparel, Toys, Furniture, Household Appliances, Footwear and Travel Goods” states, “[A] universal 10-20% tariff on imports from all foreign countries and an additional 60-100% tariff on imports specifically from China – would impact these six consumer products categories: apparel, toys, furniture, household appliances, footwear and travel goods.”
Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, tried to soothe consumers’ worries, telling Business Insider that in his first term as President, Trump also instituted tariffs on China with little inflation impact. However, they were not as significant and they also didn’t result in any of the promised manufacturing jobs, according to AP News.
According to the Tax Foundation, the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs would generate $1.2 trillion in tax revenue from 2025 through 2034, but it would actually reduce gross domestic product (GDP) by almost half a percent and reduce jobs by nearly 345,000. It added, “Our estimates do not capture the effects of retaliation, nor the additional harms that would stem from starting a global trade war.” Furthermore, the NRF estimated these tariffs will reduce consumers’ buying power by multiple billions.
Here are six retailers poised to raise prices on these popular items you purchase regularly.
Best Buy
The electronics retailer foresees having to raise prices if tariffs go into effect in the new year, according to Supply Chain Dive. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry told analysts in an earnings call, “Typically, in history, this ends up being some kind of costs that are shared,” adding that, “of course, we see that the customer ends up bearing some of the cost of tariffs, and we’ve seen this before.”
Lowe’s
The home goods and home improvement retailer Lowe’s is another one on record that tariffs will lead to increased prices. Lowe’s CFO Brandon Sink told shareholders on an earnings call that as much as 40% of the company’s cost related to sold goods is from overseas companies. Tariffs are likely to add production costs, he told CNBC, though that was as much detail as he knew at the time.
Autozone
The retailer of auto parts and accessories did not mince words in its recent earnings call, according to Benzinga. “If we get tariffs, we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer,” CEO Philip Daniele told shareholders.
Columbia Sportswear
Your sportswear and athleisure will also probably get more expensive if Trump’s tariffs are imposed. Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle made it clear in his company’s earnings call that “trade wars are not good and not easy to win,” and made it clear, per the Washington Post, that the company is “set to raise prices” if Trump’s tariff’s come to pass.
Stanley Black & Decker
The company known for appliances, power tools, outdoors products and more is also on team raise prices if tariffs go into effect, according to Axios. Its CEO, Donald Allan, told analysts in an October earnings call that the company will be trying out “a variety of different scenarios” to prepare for Trump’s tariffs proposal and “coming out of the gate, there would be price increases associated with tariffs that we put into the market.”
Walmart
Known for its consistently low prices, Walmart would be loath to raise prices, but its CFO, John David Rainey, told CNBC that they are indeed concerned about additional tariffs because “there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers.”
Companies Changing Import Countries
Another possible result is that some companies may try to shift which countries they import goods from as a way to get around the tariffs. For example, the CEO of Steve Madden, Edward Rosenfeld, told CNN that they are “planning for a potential scenario in which we would have to move goods out of China more quickly.”
While other big name companies like Target, Costco and Kroger have not commented on raising prices, all major companies will be faced with the dilemma of raising prices in the face of Trump’s tariffs.
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