Walmart used to be Charmaine Bianco’s go-to grocery store for low-price goods.

But Bianco fears she will have to search elsewhere for good deals as the nationwide grocery chain plans to raise prices this month in light of tariffs ordered by President Donald Trump.

Executives at the $750 billion company told industry analysts Thursday they are doing everything in their power to absorb the higher costs from tariffs.

Given the magnitude of the duties, however, the highest since the 1930s, higher prices are unavoidable, the company says, and they will hurt Walmart customers already buffeted by inflation over the past three years.

Trump’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a deal announced Monday, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days.

Those higher prices began to appear on Walmart shelves in late April and accelerated this month, Walmart executives said Thursday. However, a larger sting will be felt in June and July when the back-to-school shopping season goes into high gear.

“We’re wired to keep prices low, but there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,” Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told the Associated Press after the company reported strong first-quarter sales.

Bianco’s grocery bill — for herself and her son, Jeff Bianco — has doubled since last year, spiking from $100 to $200 per stop on average.

“It’s a little bit too much, with my income,” said Bianco, 86, of Greensburg. “I’m on Social Security, and it’s very low.”

She heard about Walmart raising prices while watching the news Thursday morning.

“I wasn’t surprised,” she said. “Tariffs are messing with everybody. I can’t really understand it — just that I know I’m getting less.”

Tariffs aside, Michelle McCarthy has watched the price of diapers for her almost 3-year-old daughter, Kendall, rise since 2022.

“I swear they’ve gone up a couple dollars every year,” said McCarthy, 23, of Arona. “Diapers are already expensive.”

McCarthy only stops at Walmart for quick grocery shops. She typically gets food at Aldi and other grocery items at Sam’s Club.

“We definitely won’t be stopping (at Walmart) just to get our stuff anymore if that’s how it’s going to be,” she said.

Disappointing news

Autumn Monaghan, 46, of Natrona Heights called the news disappointing.

“I was surprised,” she said. “I did think things were getting better. I just bought a $3 carton of eggs the other day, so I was happy.”

Monaghan said she’s a frequent shopper at Walmart. While she understands why Walmart executives have made the decision to raise prices, it’s still another burden consumers have to take on.

“I feel like people are just struggling to figure out how to make it,” she said. “It’s disappointing.”

Monaghan said she works with Teen Spot, an after school program offered by Highlands School District. The program provides dinner to students every day after school.

“A lot of times, we get our food from (Walmart) if we can’t get enough donations,” Monaghan said.

She said some staff volunteer with the program rather than take a paycheck because it’s already expensive for the district to feed the students. The upped prices could hit the budget even harder, Monaghan said.

James Bullock, 68, of Hempfield isn’t sure any store will be spared the impact of tariffs. He often shops at Giant Eagle, but the Walmart in Hempfield’s Greengate Centre shopping plaza is the closest store to his house.

“They always say Walmart’s the cheapest place to go,” he said, “but with tariffs, I don’t know what’s going to happen to every store.”

A Republican voter, Bullock holds out hope the tariffs ultimately will work for the country’s benefit.

“The United States spends way too much money with the tariffs they have to pay to a foreign country,” he said.

“It is what it is,” said Debie Mckillop, 60, of Harrison. “This is how we live now. This is the country we live in. This is how things are.”

Mckillop said she works for a local VFW and isn’t too worried about combating rising prices.

“I’ll do what I have to do,” she said.

Mckillop wasn’t surprised about the news and expected it when she voted Republican in the recent presidential election, she said.

“We all need to be patient,” she said. “I know it’s going to take a little bit of adjustment, but we will adjust. We have in the past, and we will in the future. It can’t be any worse than what it has been.”

Rainey emphasized that prices are rising not just for discretionary items such as patio furniture and trendy fashions but for basic necessities, as well. The price of bananas, imported from Costa Rica, rose from 50 cents per pound, to 54 cents. He thinks car seats made in China that sell for $350 at Walmart will likely cost customers another $100. Baby strollers also are sourced from China, Rainey said.

Higher prices arrive as many Americans pull back on spending as they grow increasingly uneasy about the economy.

Retiree Mike Pressdee said he and his wife do all of their shopping at Walmart.

The 66-year-old lives in Harrison and said he and his wife will have to watch their budget closely.

“We’re both retired, so we just live on Social Security and what we’ve saved in the past,” Pressdee said.

He also called the news disappointing, saying almost everyone’s lifestyle is going to be affected by the tariffs.

“I would prefer for this not to be done, but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” he said.

Government data Thursday revealed slowing sales growth for retailers. Walmart said its consumers have become cautious and selective.

Tariffs on China and other countries are threatening the low-price model at the core of Walmart’s success.

Retailers and importers largely had halted shipments of shoes, clothes, toys and other items because of new tariffs, but many are resuming imports from China in the narrow window that opened during the temporary “truce” this week, hoping to avoid sparse shelves this fall. Yet retailers, already operating on thin margins, say they have no choice but to raise prices to offset higher costs from tariffs. And they also are bracing for higher shipping costs fueled by a surge of companies scrambling to get their goods on ships to the U.S.

Rainey told the Associated Press the retailer did not pause shipments from China as a result of the tariffs like others because it didn’t want to hurt its suppliers and wanted to keep merchandise flowing. It has built in hedges against some tariff threats. Two-thirds of Walmart’s merchandise is sourced in the U.S., with groceries now accounting for roughly 60% of Walmart’s U.S. business.

From reporting by The Associated Press and staff writers Haley Daugherty and Quincey Reese.

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