Walmart (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, warned last month that tariffs will result in higher prices for shoppers, but it’s committed to remaining the low price leader.
Major U.S. retailers and manufacturers have sounded alarm after President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on Mexican goods, in the midst of another fight with China.
However, Walmart is positioning itself to be “the champion of the customer,” according to U.S. CEO Greg Foran, speaking just ahead of the retailer’s yearly meeting.
Their team is “intensely focused on ensuring that we maintain the lowest prices we can. And obviously, we still have to get a return for our shareholders, but primarily, the lowest prices we can for our customers,” Foran told Yahoo Finance in an interview.
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For the last several months, those merchants have looked into where product is sourced from and worked with those suppliers to manage costs so Walmart can maintain its low prices.
In Walmart’s most recent quarterly earnings release published in May, the company said it’s keeping a close eye on the volatile trade relationship between the U.S. and China.
“We’re monitoring the tariff discussions and are hopeful that an agreement can be reached,” CFO Brett Biggs said in a statement at the time.
“Our goal is to always be the low-price leader, and we will actively manage pricing and margins as warranted with our customers and shareholders in mind. Our merchant teams have been focused on this for months and continue to execute appropriate mitigation strategies.”
A livestream of the event will be available on Yahoo Finance on June 7.
Watch the full interview below.
Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.