“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary said in a Monday interview that retailers are not going to “eat the tariffs,” despite pressure from the Trump administration to do so.
“This idea that the president says, ‘Listen, retailers, eat the tariffs.’ That’s not going to happen,” O’Leary said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill.”
O’Leary said he expects both customers and retailers to shoulder some of the burden of the cost increases, but he noted it’s difficult to predict the cost of goods without knowing the tariff rates — which are up in the air pending further negotiations with U.S. trading partners.
“There’s going to be some distribution of the pain between increased prices, and retailers will take some of the hit, but it really depends what the hit is,” he continued. “We don’t know. Is it 10 percent? 20 percent? 25 percent? What is it? Nobody knows.”
O’Leary said he expects retailers to lobby the administration, adding, “I really think that this is kind of like jawboning between the retailer and Trump, but that’s it. We’re at the beginning of a negotiation.
The interview comes after Walmart announced it would raise prices on imported goods to pass along some of the cost to consumers as tariff-affected goods hit store shelves.
The president responded to the news over the weekend, railing against the retailer for blaming tariffs for the higher prices and urging Walmart to bear the cost burden.
“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected.”
“Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING,” he added. “I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”