Walmart and Target Wrangling With Suppliers Following Tariffs

Walmart and Target are reportedly haggling with suppliers over proposed price hikes in the face of tariffs.

As Reuters reported Monday (March 24), the outcome of these negotiations will decide when prices on products go up — and by how much — and could even determine which merchandise the retailers choose to keep in stock.

The report noted that retailers argue they can’t hike prices without sacrificing market share and customers. This position has caused some bitter discussions with suppliers, whose costs have jumped in the wake of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

For example, Minnesota-based cookware maker Nordic Ware has seen costs rise by 10% to 15% due to tariffs on the aluminum it uses to make its products. CEO David Dalquist told Reuters he’s had trouble setting prices now for a season that will culminate around the holidays, as most retailers require a 60-day notice for price increases.

“You can’t just hand it to them,” he said. “Then they review it — they go through their own analysis on whether it’s justified.”

And while retailers conduct that analysis, a process that can take months, companies like Nordic Ware have to absorb higher costs.

“Our conversations with suppliers are all aimed at making our purpose a reality for millions of customers, and we will continue to work closely with them to find the best way forward during these uncertain times,” Walmart said in a statement to Reuters.

Target pointed the news outlets to comments from executives at a recent investor meeting. At that meeting, the company said it was too soon to determine how prices might change product by product, but that the retailer was taking a holistic approach to examining its pricing.

Recent research by PYMNTS shows the pressure the tariffs are placing on businesses of all sizes, with middle-market chief financial officers (CFOs) broadly agreeing the levies will aggravate the major challenges facing their companies.

According to research from the March edition of PYMNTS’s 2025 Certainty Project, 60% of these CFOs think tariffs will add to economic uncertainty and planning challenges.

“The uncertainty factor touches on critical business issues,” PYMNTS wrote recently. “Nearly 7 in 10 CFOs foresee shortages of supplies or delays in getting products, with a similar share anticipating new costs to restructure their supply chains. Most CFOs also predict increased raw material costs and worry that retaliatory tariffs will complicate their exports.”

Among smaller businesses, only a small fraction can foresee a positive impact from the tariffs, with the majority projecting things like product shortages or deteriorating product quality.

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