Tariffs have been a topic of concern dominating national — and international — headlines for months on end, with no particular resolution or conclusion on the horizon and concerns of ripple effects into inflation and the economy overall on the minds of the people.
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Prominent most recently have been two major news items: President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause concerning reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports, echoed by China’s leadership, and the president’s insistence that Walmart absorb some of the cost of tariffs on its supply chain, rather than passing the buck along to U.S. consumers, as The Guardian outlined.
But with summer — and shopping events such as Amazon’s Prime Day, Fourth of July and others — approaching quickly, what effects could American consumers feel as a result of Trump’s ongoing trade wars with foreign nations?
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Prices on Some Items Could Soar by Summer
Jason Miller, associate professor of logistics in the department of supply chain management at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business, told USA Today that prices are expected to shoot up by June and July of this year due to Trump’s tariffs — just in time for Amazon’s Prime Day.
Miller suggested that prices on clothing, footwear, toys and games, and small electrical appliances would be most notably susceptible to retail price increases. These are all significant categories for not just Amazon, but also competitors such as Target, Walmart and others. Shoes and toys could be particularly hard-hit, observing double-digit price increases in short order.
USA Today reinforced this possibility, quoting Trump’s remarks on the matter of hiked toy prices in recent weeks.
“Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” Trump said. “Maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
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Walmart Summer Deals Event Could Also Be Under Pressure
As GoBrandWoven reported, Walmart has consistently been competing with Amazon’s Prime Day event by launching its own tentpole sales event a week or so prior each year.
This year, however, could be a bit different, particularly as Walmart is warning of broad-based price hikes in response to Trump’s tariffs.
During an earnings call earlier this week, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon indicated that the company would have to necessarily raise prices in response to Trump’s tariffs, regardless of the temporary lowering of rates.
“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” McMillon said, per The Guardian.
The president responded to McMillon’s comments via a Truth Social post, wherein he pointed to the blue-and-yellow brand’s significant profits and suggested that Walmart should “eat the tariffs” and maintain current price levels.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, suggested that Walmart would, in fact, do so — at least to some degree.
“I was on the phone with Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, yesterday. And Walmart is, in fact, going to, as you describe it, eat some of the tariffs, just as they did in ’18, ’19 and ’20,” Bessent said to NBC’s “Meet the Press” correspondent Kristen Welker following Trump’s post.
It remains difficult to ascertain exactly how Walmart might handle the situation.
Inflation Is Down, but That Could Change
While USA Today noted that inflation has cooled as of late, economists are warning of broad-based price hikes leading into the summer of 2025 — and perhaps beyond, potentially biting into Black Friday’s deals later this year.
The outlet quoted PNC chief economist Gus Faucher as stating that tariffs are likely to push inflation back into gear sooner rather than later.
“Even with the recent agreement between the Trump administration and China to reduce the most onerous import taxes, tariffs against all U.S. trading partners are much higher than they were at the beginning of 2025,” Faucher said.
A second economist cited echoed the sentiment.
Diane Swonk, KPMG’s chief economist, said, “This could be the last benign inflation report for a while,” referencing the past period of cooling inflation. KPMG’s report also warned of the dangers associated with a bout of stagflation set to dog the U.S. economy and that uncertainty prevailed concerning several macroeconomic conditions.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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Sources
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The Guardian, “US treasury secretary says Walmart will ‘eat some of the tariffs’ after Trump demand.”
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USA Today, “Tariffs trigger price hikes: Shoes, clothing and toys to get more expensive this summer.”
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GoBrandWoven, “Walmart 2025 ‘Prime Day’ Deals Event: Dates & Requirements for Sellers.”
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Truth Social, Donald J. Trump
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 3 Ways Trump’s Tariffs Could Affect the Biggest Shopping Events This Year
