Walmart Reportedly Lobbying for Supplier Price Cuts as Tariffs Loom

Walmart is reportedly pushing suppliers in China to reduce prices to mitigate new tariffs.

The effort, the subject of a Bloomberg News report late Monday (April 1), is happening despite a recent summit between Walmart executives and the Chinese government to discuss the issue, and warnings of potential retaliation by Beijing.

Sources told Bloomberg the retail giant has not relented in its request that suppliers lower prices by up to 10% for each round of tariffs. The report notes that Walmart’s unchanging position shows the lengths U.S. companies are going to ease the blow from the new tariffs.

Pressures are likely to ramp up even further when President Donald Trump introduces new reciprocal tariffs Wednesday (April 2), adding to the 20% levies on Chinese imports.

A source familiar with the matter said the negotiations between Walmart and its suppliers are happening on a product-by-product basis and not according to countries of origin. Sources also said that some manufacturers in China are having trouble meeting Walmart’s demands for cuts of up to 10% on each round of tariffs.

A Walmart spokeswoman told Bloomberg that the retailer’s negotiations are targeting low prices and that it will work closely with them to determine the best way forward. 

Meanwhile, PYMNTS on Wednesday examined how the tariffs — and other economic pressures — are impacting consumer spending.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence finds a sharp divide in how people handle their finances. Some people are planners, consistently paying off credit card balances and building up savings cushions for both short-term and long-term expenses.

The other group are reactors, who deal with their bills as they come, in some cases choosing which ones to pay. They normally carry higher credit card balances and have lower savings, making them more dependent on credit for unanticipated expenses.

However, the balance between these groups has begun to change, per the research, with just 40% of consumers describing themselves as planners in January 2025. That’s a “roughly 20% plunge since February 2024, when roughly 1 in 2 were planners,” PYMNTS wrote, noting that this “decline suggests more Americans are facing mounting financial strain.”

The shift to reactor is also notable among people making at least $100,000 per year, with the number of planners in that group dropping by 25% since February 2024.

“The upshot: More than 1 in 2 higher earners now fall into the reactor persona. This counterintuitive trend indicates that even Americans with six-figure earnings are facing new financial pressures — perhaps from inflation, rising living costs or ‘stage of life’ expenses related to aging,” the report said.

“Equally possible: Those affluent earners are adopting new spending patterns that increasingly crimp their wallets.”

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