During a press briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about President Trump insisting that US consumers do not pay the price of tariffs while calling on Walmart to 'eat' the tariffs imposed on China.
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00:00President Trump and his top economic aides have repeatedly said that Americans will not pay the cost of tariffs.
00:06In fact, last week, Lutnik said people have to drop the, quote, silly arguments that consumers would pay the cost.
00:14But over the weekend, as you know, the president posted that Walmart should eat the tariffs and not charge the value customer anything.
00:22I'll be watching, and so will your customers.
00:25So does he acknowledge that if companies don't absorb the full cost, Americans will have to pay?
00:32Well, first of all, the CEO of Walmart made those comments about the tariffs on an earnings call where CEOs, I believe, are legally obligated to give the most dire warnings and forecasts to their investors and stakeholders.
00:45The reality is, as the president has always maintained, Chinese producers will be absorbing the cost of these tariffs.
00:51And that is why China was so quick to hustle to the negotiating table with the United States of America.
00:56They need our markets.
00:57They need our consumers.
00:59And I would, again, point you to the inflation report that came out last week showing that inflation is declining, in large part because energy prices are dropping across the board in this country because of the president's robust energy agenda that he has taken since January 20th.
01:15So the president is committed to ensuring that prices remain low for American consumers, and he maintains the position that foreign countries will absorb these tariffs.
01:23What does he mean by I'll be watching Walmart?
01:27He'll be watching, seeing what they're doing.
01:28China.
01:29China.
01:29China.
01:29China.
01:29China.
01:29China.