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Walmart became the latest retailer to say it will be using its tariff refunds to lower prices for its shoppers.
In the retailer’s earnings call Aug. 20, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said Walmart received $2.9 billion in tariff refunds, which will be used in “a combination of rollbacks across food, general merchandise, consumables, fashion.”
“We know customers are looking for a variety of things across the basket,” he said.
Earlier this summer, Walmart also lowered the price of thousands of items at its stores and Sam’s Club, including staples like beef.
Why are businesses getting tariff refunds?
U.S. businesses began receiving refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariffs imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Other tariffs remain in place.
A USA TODAY analysis in June examined more than 630 Securities and Exchange Commission filings that referenced the Supreme Court ruling and found at least 90 publicly traded companies were seeking tariff refunds.
Some companies, like UPS, are giving refunds to customers who file claims. Others, like Amazon, have announced that they will automatically credit a small number customers whose purchases were affected by import tariffs, but the retailer said it had absorbed most of the costs of tariffs rather than pass them onto customers and that it would “utilize refunds to continue to invest in low prices for customers,” Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said during the retailer’s July 30 earnings call.
Target executives did not give specifics during its Aug. 19 earnings call about plans for its tariff refunds and Target did not respond to an inquiry from USA TODAY.
Lower prices keep Walmart competitive
Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at the research and analytics firm GlobalData, said Walmart has not explicitly said where it will use its refunds to lower prices, “but it is likely to be on essential items where price reductions will be meaningful to consumers and help Walmart to maintain its competitiveness.”
However, “this will help, but it’s not going to bring prices back to 2019 levels or create dramatic price reductions,” Saunders said.
Wider investments will include efforts like improved stores, which Saunders said is something the retailer has been working on for awhile.
But not all businesses and retailers have been as clear about how they will use refunds they’ve received from the U.S. government and whether consumers will benefit.
Some will invest in the business, Saunders said. Some will reduce prices, some may refund consumers directly, and others may simply take it as profit, he said.
“There is no universal response as how retailers reacted to tariffs varied – not all simply passed them across to consumers in the form of higher prices,” he said.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which breaks down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here.