Trump tells Walmart to “eat tariffs” instead of raising prices
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Walmart should “eat tariffs” rather than condemn the obligations imposed by his managers on imports due to increased retailers’ prices.
Reuters
President Donald Trump reignited trade tensions in a string of social media posts targeting Apple and the European Union ahead of Memorial Day weekend, plunged global markets into turmoil after weeks of escalation gave him some reprieve.
In a morning message about the platform’s true social, Trump warned Apple CEO Tim Cook about a new 25% import tax if the trademark iPhone is not created in the US. Thirty minutes later, Trump wrote that he is recommending a 50% tariff on the European Union from June 1st.
“The European Union has been very difficult to deal with,” Trump said in a social media post on May 23 in his reopening of his threat after suspending mutual tariffs in the EU and other countries in April. “Our discussion with them is not going anywhere!” the president added.
Trump had threatened major mutual tariffs in the EU and many countries in early April, but soon suspended all of them, except for tariffs on China. Since then, his administration has been negotiating a trade deal. The only deal reached so far was with the UK, but talks with China began after weeks of hostility, with both sides lowering sudden tariffs.
Trade advances had helped mild financial markets that had dropped significantly after the mutual tariff announcement on April 2nd. The stocks have recovered the loss, but are now shaking again by Trump’s latest tariff threat. Apple’s stocks dropped significantly on May 23rd in pre-market trading, looking at the high-tech sector more widely.
Trump threatens apples with tariffs
In an extraordinary tariff threat targeting a single company, Trump has stolen Apple in a social media post and demanded that the device be built in the US.
“If not, at least 25% of the tariffs must be paid by Apple to the US,” Trump wrote.
Trump mentioned Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying “a long time ago,” and “a long time.”
Apple announced in February that the company plans to spend $500 billion in the US over the next four years in Michigan, Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina and Washington. “The plan includes a new Texas plant and accelerates investments in the US Advanced Manufacturing Fund, Manufacturing Academy, AI and silicon engineering,” the company said in a statement.
According to Reuters, Apple is heavily dependent on Foxconn, which relies heavily on its Chinese partner Foxconn, but aims to migrate the majority of its iPhone production to India by 2026.
