Target and Walmart slump: can American retailers just “eat the tariffs”?

The import tariffs imposed by United States president Trump and the general uncertainty caused by his disorderly government are making large-scale victims. Retail giant Target is seeing its sales fall and is lowering its full-year forecast, while Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned that the tariffs will cause prices to rise. Is US retail heading for a crisis?

Heavyweights under pressure

Earlier, Trump became irate with Amazon because the company wanted to communicate the price impact of his import tariffs to its customers. Now Trump is bluntly stating that companies should absorb the costs themselves: they should “just eat it”, as the president said on his own megaphone Truth Social.