Target’s CEO Brian Cornell said on Wednesday that hiking prices on customers due to President Trump’s tariff agenda would be the retail giant’s “very last resort.”
“The difficulty level has been incredibly high given the rates we’re facing and the uncertainty about how these rates in different categories might evolve,” Cornell said during a call with analysts, according to ABC News. “We’re focused on supporting American families and how they manage their budgets.”
Cornell’s remarks come as Target reported a dip in store sales, pointing to weaker consumer confidence and tighter spending over Trump’s trade war. Target reported having $23.8 billion in net sales during the first quarter of 2025, lower than the $24.5 billion in 2024.
“While our sales fell short of our expectations, we saw several bright spots in the quarter, including healthy digital growth, led by a 36 percent increase in same-day delivery through Target Circle 360, and our strongest designer collaboration in more than a decade, kate spade for Target,” Cornell said in a statement on Wednesday.
Target’s approach to combat the effects of tariffs appears to be different than Walmart, which announced last week that it would raise its prices due to the costs of the president’s trade battles. Walmart said the price hikes will come this month, along with in early summer.
Trump then slammed Walmart, pressing the retail behemoth to absorb the additional cost.
“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected,” the president said on Saturday.
“Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING,” Trump added. “I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”
After conducting talks in Switzerland earlier this month, the United States lowered tariffs on Chinese goods from 145 percent to 30 percent for 90 days. Likewise, China dropped the tariff rate from 125 percent to 10 percent.
Best Buy warned two months ago that the impacts of tariffs would hit the technology retailer, which could then pass down the additional cost to consumers.
“While Best Buy only directly imports 2 percent to 3 percent of our overall assortment, we expect our vendors across our entire assortment will pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely,” Best Buy CEO Corie Sue Barry said during an earnings call in early March. “The fiscal ’26 guidance we provided this morning does not include the impact of the recently enacted tariffs.”
