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Walmart CEO Doug McMillon on Tuesday said the retail giant is prepared to navigate any policy changes that may come from the new Trump administration.
“What we’ve learned through the pandemic and all the other things that we’ve been through is to be able to react fast,” McMillion said in a fireside chat at the 2024 Morgan Stanley Global Consumer and Retail Conference. “We have the ability to do that. We’ve got a depth of experience, and we can navigate whatever policy changes come.”
As for which specific policies Walmart might be keeping an eye on, McMillon stressed that the company is as uncertain about what’s coming as anyone else. “I don’t know what’s going to happen policy-wise,” he said. “We’re all reading the same news.”
Others in the industry have been less tight-lipped about the downside of certain Trump policy proposals. The National Retail Federation last month released a report estimating the cost to consumers of Trump’s proposal to implement 10%–20% tariffs on imports and 60%–100% tariffs on Chinese imports. The study found that consumers’ spending power would be cut between $46–$78 billion, or $362–$624 per household per year.
McMillon, however, emphasized that Walmart is expecting more surprises in the years to come.
“I’m sensitive to how our customers feel as it relates to these issues. I’m sensitive to how our associates feel about the environment that we’re in,” he said. “We just have to stay empathetic and communicate, and make the best decisions we can along the way, in what will be a volatile and surprising world, as it has been for years now.”