00:01In the United States, the economic slump is dragging down major multinationals,
00:05which are reporting an unprecedented drop in sales.
00:08Our New York correspondent Henrique Melo tells us more.
00:14While President Donald Trump posts on social media that the U.S. economy is booming,
00:20the country's real-world reality shows quite the opposite.
00:24Walmart, the world's largest retail chain and a key barometer of consumer sentiment,
00:31has sounded the alarm with a report that is worrying for the U.S. economy.
00:37The close of its second quarter showed a remarked slowdown with growth of only 2.6%,
00:44its lowest pace in over six years.
00:47This translates to a 1.5 percentage point loss compared to 2025.
00:55Analysts point out that these significant losses appear directly linked
01:00to President Trump's economic and immigration policies.
01:04Immigration policy, it is affecting the sales of Walmart
01:08because people are not going to the stores because two things.
01:13One, many immigrants who used to buy at Walmart now have no jobs
01:18or are being like deported, right, which is they are losing customers.
01:24On the other hand, you have the tariffs who are making these products even more expensive.
01:29And then at the end, people have to make a decision between gas price,
01:35the cost of gas and the cost of goods.
01:38Shopping, once a weekly routine, has become a luxury for many families.
01:45Check out the price of this piece of meat, $35.
01:53$7 for 10 slices of cheese?
01:56$75 for three steaks. Do you think that's ridiculous?
02:00But Walmart isn't the only retail chain feeling the impact of the U.S. economic slowdown.
02:06Stores like Home Depot and Lowe's reported that consumers are postponing construction projects,
02:13while Macy's reported a drop in sales and Walgreens announced the closure of more locations nationwide.
02:22Since Walmart is one of the stores with the highest volume of immigrant shoppers,
02:27their absence has been noticeable.
02:30President Trump keeps denying this reality.
02:33He keeps going and going about how great the economy is while people are struggling,
02:39while his own appointed Fed chair recently had to raise taxes,
02:46had to raise interest because of the inflation that is going on.
02:52The bond market keeps going up, which means that people, at the end of the day,
02:59end up paying more for credit cards, for houses, for access to capital,
03:05which is needed for companies like Walmart and many other companies to continue operations.
03:10For now, these retail chains are devising their best marketing strategies to boost sales
03:17and survive President Trump's economy policies, some of which he implemented in his own businesses,
03:24many of which end up bankrupt.
03:27Pablo Daniel Joe and Henry Camelo, Telesur, New York.
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