Home Depot doesn’t plan to raise prices broadly as a result of new tariffs, executives said on Tuesday, but some product options may disappear from store shelves if extra import costs make them not worth it.
Home Depot executives acknowledged their advantageous position in the retail world: The chain is massive, with tremendous power in the market.
Since Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese products during his first term, Home Depot has pushed suppliers to diversify where they source items from.
Many companies alarmed about prices The direct commitment to not raising prices sets Home Depot apart from many retailers —large and small — who say they cannot afford to absorb new tariffs.
Under a current temporary deal, U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports sit at 30% from 145% previously.
Although executives stated on Tuesday that Home Depot does not intend to raise prices generally in response to the new tariffs, some product options may be removed from store shelves if the additional costs of imports prove to be unjustified.
A few days after Walmart angered President Trump by warning that his broad import taxes are forcing the world’s largest retailer to raise its normally low prices, the nation’s biggest home improvement chain offered some commentary on its earnings report during a call with investors.
“We do not anticipate widespread price hikes for our customers in the future,” stated Billy Bastek, the head of Home Depot’s merchandising, during the call on Tuesday.
“There are some products that we have that could potentially be impacted from a tariff that, honestly, we won’t have going forward,” Bastek stated. However, some Home Depot prices may go up, and some product options may need to be altered. “Some things that don’t make sense will simply become irrelevant. “..”.
Executives at Home Depot recognized their privileged position in the retail industry: The chain is enormous and has enormous market power. Over half of its current inventory is sourced from the United States. S. . It doesn’t sell food and has a higher average receipt than Walmart.
Home Depot has encouraged suppliers to broaden their product sourcing since Trump placed tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term. The company anticipates sourcing no more than 10% of its goods from any one foreign nation by the middle of 2026. According to executives on the call, Home Depot actually hopes that its consistent prices in the upcoming months will help it entice customers away from other stores.
A lot of businesses are concerned about prices.
In contrast to many retailers, both big and small, who claim they cannot afford to absorb new tariffs, Home Depot has made a clear commitment to not raising prices.
As part of an ongoing temporary agreement, U. S. Previously at 145 percent, tariffs on Chinese imports are now at 30 percent. A new ten percent tariff is applied to all imports from abroad. Trump has claimed that other nations ought to cover the cost, but the United States is the one who bears the expense. S. . businesses when they receive their imported merchandise.
With its announcement last week that it would begin raising prices this month and into the summer due to tariffs, Walmart became the biggest company to do so. Trump took to social media to attack Walmart and China, claiming that they should “EAT THE TARIFFS” rather than transferring the costs to consumers.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon informed investors on Thursday that the company and its suppliers were already bearing a portion of the tariff costs. To avoid raising food prices, it was also redistributing expenses in other ways.
But considering the reality of narrow retail margins, McMillon stated, “we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the magnitude of the tariffs.”. “,”.
Amazon was previously accused by the Trump administration of “hostile and political” actions after news reports indicated that the retailer might post new tariff costs on its low-cost marketplace, Amazon Haul. After Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos spoke over the phone, Amazon claimed it never had such a plan.
Following Mattel’s announcement that it might have to raise prices on some U.S. products, Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on the company’s goods. A. toys due to the tariffs.
The robust market for home renovation.
Until now, Home Depot has avoided significant additional costs from additional lumber tariffs because of a separate agreement with Canada. Additionally, executives have praised the tenacity of their typical customer, a homeowner with an average income of $110,000.
According to CEO Ted Decker, “We have a very different customer and a very different sort of use case for expenditure in home improvement,” he informed investors. “At the moment, our customer is doing well. “,”.
According to the home improvement chain, U. S. . In the most recent quarter, people took on more smaller-scale projects, which led to a 0.2 percent increase in sales and a 21.1 percent increase in shopping transactions. The U. S. . Many people continue to put off significant renovations due to the housing slump and high mortgage rates.
Yet Decker continued to contend that the U. S. . Due in part to robust employment levels, stable inflation, and declining gas prices, the economy was “well past” the worst projections, including threats of a potential recession.
