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Last week, anticipated price hikes at Walmart attracted headlines across the country after CEO Doug McMillon warned that certain items would become more expensive as a result of President Donald Trumps tariff policies. During the company’s first-quarter earnings call for fiscal 2026, McMillon emphasized the retail giants commitment to keep priced competitive. We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible,” he said. However, he warned that it would be difficult for Walmart to absorb all costs. He continued, 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. According to McMillon, the company would do its best to keep food and consumable costs as low as possible, but some food itemslike coffee, bananas, and avocados, typically imported from countries like Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombiawould likely be more at risk of higher prices. Trump weighs in over the weekend On Saturday, Trump took to Truth Social to lash out at the big box retailer. He posted: Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, EAT THE TARIFFS, and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. Ill be watching, and so will your customers!!! Officials for the United States and China announced earlier this month that an agreement had been reached to pause most tariffs for 90 days. However, uncertainty remains among retailers, given that Trump has frequently flip-flopped on his approach to tariffs. On Sunday, during an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told moderator Kristen Welker that he had talked to McMillon on a phone call and was told that Walmart is going to eat some of the tariffs, just as they did in 18, 19, and 20. When asked about the retailers stance on the potential for price increases, a Walmart spokesperson gave Fast Company the following statement: We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we wont stop. Well keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins. Walmart stock slips on Monday Either way, investors are likely feeling on edge because of the tariff turmoil. On Monday morning, Walmart shares (NYSE: WMT) were down more than 2% in early trading. Markets were mostly down on Monday morning in the wake of Friday’s credit-rating downgrade from Moodys, although not as sharply. The S&P 500 was down 0.73% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.42%.
Category:
E-Commerce
New Jersey Transit’s train engineers reached a tentative deal Sunday to end their three-day strike that had halted service for some 100,000 daily riders, including routes to Newark airport and across the Hudson River to New York City. The union said its members would return to work on Tuesday, when trains would resume their regular schedules.The walkout that began Friday was the state’s first transit strike in over 40 years, forcing people who normally rely on New Jersey Transit to take buses, cars, taxis and boats instead or consider staying home. The main sticking point had been how to accomplish a wage increase for the engineers without creating a financially disastrous domino effect for the transit agency.The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen initially announced regular train service would begin again Monday, but moments later, union spokesperson Jamie Horwitz said NJ Transit informed them that it would be Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. instead.A transit agency statement said the Tuesday start was necessary because “it takes approximately 24 hours to inspect and prepare the infrastructure before returning to full scheduled service.”A union statement sent by email said the terms of the agreement would be sent to the union’s 450 members who work as locomotive engineers or trainees at the passenger railroad.“While I won’t get into the exact details of the deal reached, I will say that the only real issue was wages and we were able to reach an agreement that boosts hourly pay beyond the proposal rejected by our members last month and beyond where we were when NJ Transit’s managers walked away from the table Thursday evening,” said Tom Haas, the union’s general chairman at NJ Transit.He added that the union was able to show management “ways to boost engineers’ wages . . . without causing any significant budget issue or requiring a fare increase.”The union statement also said the deal would be submitted for a ratification vote by the national union and would require a vote of the New Jersey Transit board at its next regularly scheduled meeting on June 11. NJ Transit’s board also has to approve the deal.“To offer the understatement of the year, this is a very good outcome,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said at a Sunday evening news conference. He commended the two sides for finding an agreement that is “both fair to NJ Transit’s employees while also being affordable for our state’s commuters and taxpayers.”NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri didn’t provide details of the deal, but said it was “fair and fiscally responsible.” He thanked the union for negotiating in good faith.“The deal itself reflects a series of concessions that came together by way of a work bill that will eventually end up paying for this fair wage that the union has asked for,” Kolluri said at the news conference.Buses would be provided on Monday, but Murphy and Kolluri both urged commuters, if possible, to work from home for one more day.“Please do that tomorrow so we can move essential employees through the system,” Kolluri said.A month earlier, members of the union had overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.NJ Transitthe nation’s third-largest transit systemoperates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. The walkout halted all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City’s Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.Mark Wallace, the union’s national president, had said NJ Transit needs to pay engineers a wage that’s comparable to Amtrak and Long Island Railroad because some are leaving for jobs on those other railroads for better pay.The union had said its members have been earning an average salary of $113,000 a year and it wanted to see an agreement for an average salary of $170,000.NJ Transit leadership, though, disputed the union’s data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000. Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed from Omaha, Nebraska. Bruce Shipkowski and Christopher Weber, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
House Republicans narrowly advanced President Donald Trump’s big tax cuts package out of a key committee during a rare Sunday night vote, but just barely, as conservative holdouts are demanding quicker cuts to Medicaid and green energy programs before giving their full support.Speaker Mike Johnson met with Republican lawmakers shortly before the meeting and acknowledged to reporters that there are still details to “iron out.” He said some changes were being made, but declined to provide details.It’s all setting up a difficult week ahead for the GOP leadership racing toward a Memorial Day deadline, a week away, to pass the package from the House. The Budget Committee, which just days ago failed to advance the package when four conservative Republicans objected, was able to do so Sunday on a vote of 17-16, with the four hold-outs voting “present” to allow it to move ahead, as talks continue.“The bill does not yet meet the moment,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a leader of the House Freedom Caucus, in a social media post immediately after the late-night session. “We can and must do better before we pass the final product.”The path ahead for Johnson is unclear as he tries to hold his narrow House majority together to pass the president’s top domestic priority of extending the tax breaks while pumping in money for border security and deportationsall while cutting spending.Republicans criticizing the measure argued that the bill’s new spending and the tax cuts are front-loaded in the bill, while the measures to offset the cost are back-loaded. In particular, they are looking to speed up the new work requirements that Republicans want to enact for able-bodied participants in Medicaid.Johnson indicated he wants to impose the the work requirements “as soon as possible” but acknowledged it may take states longer to change their systems. Those requirements would not kick in until 2029 under the current bill.“There will be more details to iron out and several more to take care of,” Johnson, R-La., said outside the hearing room.“But I’m looking forward to very thoughtful discussions, very productive discussions over the next few days, and I’m absolutely convinced we’re going to get this in final form and pass it.”More talks are ahead, but Johnson is looking to put the bill on the House floor before the end of the week.Democrats have decried the cuts Republicans are proposing to Medicaid and food stamps to offset the costs of the tax breaks.“This spending bill is terrible, and I think the American people know that,” Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “There is nothing wrong with us bringing the government in balance. But there is a problem when that balance comes on the back of working men and women. And that’s what is happening here.”The first time that Republicans tried advancing the bill out of the House Budget Committee last week, the deficit hawks joined with Democratic lawmakers in voting against reporting the measure to the full House.Those same four RepublicansRoy and Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgiacast their “present” votes Sunday.Norman pointed to a recent downgrade of the nation’s credit rating in making his arguments for steeper reductions.“We’ve got a lot more work to do,” Norman said. “We’re excited about what we did. We want to move the bill forward.”At its core, the sprawling legislative package permanently extends the existing income tax cuts that were approved during Trump’s first term in 2017 and adds temporary new ones that the president campaigned on in 2024, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay and auto loan interest payments. The measure also proposes big spending increases for border security and defense.The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, estimates that the House bill is shaping up to add roughly $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade.Johnson is not just having to address the concerns of the deficit hawks in his party. He’s also facing pressure from centrists who will be warily eyeing the proposed changes to Medicaid, food assistance programs and the rolling back of clean energy tax credits. Republican lawmakers from New York and elsewhere are also demanding a much larger state and local tax deduction.As it stands, the bill proposes tripling what’s currently a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, increasing it to $30,000 for joint filers with incomes up to $400,000 a year.Rep. Nick LaLota, one of the New York lawmakers leading the effort to lift the cap, said they have proposed a deduction of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.Rep. Jodey Arrington, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, said the bill remained under negotiation.“Deliberations continue at this very moment,” Arrington said. “They will continue on into the week, and I suspect right up until the time we put this big, beautiful bill on the floor of the House.”If the bill passes the House this week, it would then move to the Senate, where Republican lawmakers are also eyeing changes that could make final passage in the House more difficult. Kevin Freking, Lisa Mascaro and Leah Askarinam, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
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