Which companies can "eat" Trump's tariffs?
Marketplace
American Public Media
4.6 • 8K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over the weekend, President Trump told retailers to “eat the tariffs” after Walmart warned of price hikes spurred by the trade war. Across the country, retailers are making tough calls when it comes to tariff costs. So why is Home Depot in a better position to keep prices stable than Walmart? Also in this episode: stablecoins inch closer to bank distribution, turbine backlog slows energy sector growth and we get some advice on what to buy before more tariffs kick in.
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Transcript
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| 0:36.4 | In which the theme of the program, broadly speaking, is pricing power. |
| 0:41.5 | From American public media, this is Marketplace. |
| 0:52.0 | In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle Rizdahl Tuesday today. |
| 0:54.8 | May the 20th, good as always, stab you along, everybody. |
| 1:03.4 | We seem to have entered the, are you corporate America, or are you not going to raise your prices as tariffs start to bite in this economy? |
| 1:11.8 | You'll recall the other day, Walmart said flat out on its earnings call that it is going to raise prices by the end of this month, thanks, the company said directly to President Trump's tariffs. The president, then, as you have heard, said on his |
| 1:16.6 | social account and through his Treasury Secretary that Walmart ought to eat the cost of the |
| 1:21.6 | tariffs. That's President's word. Home Depot, though, on its call this morning, said it's not |
| 1:26.7 | planning broad price hikes. |
| 1:29.0 | Because as it turns out, and as Marketplaces of Anna Peters reports, are you or are you not going to raise prices, kind of hinges on what kind of business you are in? |
| 1:39.3 | At a time when consumers are bracing for higher prices, companies can give themselves an edge by promising |
| 1:45.9 | to buck that trend. Terry Esper, a professor of logistics at the Ohio State University, |
| 1:51.8 | says Home Depot is in a good position. I think they're able to weather this trade scenario |
| 1:57.8 | maybe a bit differently than a company like a Walmart. |
| 2:01.5 | And only partly because of the strong domestic supply chain, Home Depot touted on its earnings |
| 2:06.4 | call. |
| 2:07.5 | Esper says home improvement retailers deal in higher margin goods, things like garden supplies |
| 2:12.9 | and certain construction materials. |
| 2:15.3 | Some of the specialty products that typically have a bit more of a higher markup. |
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