When President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs threatened to send the price of iPhones soaring, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the White House — and soon secured a reprieve for his company and the broader electronics industry.
Almost immediately, top aides to Trump insisted they had not strayed from their promise to apply import taxes across the economy with minimal, if any, exceptions. But the carve-out still caught the attention of many businesses nationwide, igniting a fresh scramble for similar help in the throes of a global trade war.
Top lobbying groups for the agriculture, construction, manufacturing, retail and technology industries have pleaded with the White House in recent days to relax more of its tariffs, with many arguing that there are some products they must import simply because they are too expensive or impractical to produce in the United States.
On Monday, executives from retailers including Home Depot, Target and Walmart became the latest to raise their concerns directly with Trump, as the industry continues to brace for the possibility that steep taxes on imports could result in price increases for millions of American consumers.
“We had a productive meeting with President Trump and our retail peers to discuss the path forward on trade, and we remain committed to delivering value for American consumers,” a Target spokesperson, Jim Joice, said in a statement.
Doug McMillon, Walmart’s CEO, has previously acknowledged the many “variables” surrounding Trump’s tariffs and retail prices. A spokesperson for Walmart confirmed the meeting Monday, describing the conversation in a statement as “productive”. Other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
“The deal window may be open,” David French, the executive vice-president for government relations at the National Retail Federation, said in an interview last week. He said his industry had sought an audience with Trump and his team to make the case that “the consumer is very alarmed at what they fear is on the way in terms of higher prices.”
Many businesses say they want to satisfy the President’s demands and begin producing or purchasing more of their goods domestically. But they have also tried to impress on Trump and his aides that they cannot reconfigure their complicated global supply chains overnight, especially if steep import taxes on machinery and other critical components result in substantially higher manufacturing costs.
“We are calling on the administration to scope out specific manufacturing inputs that we need, specifically to make things in America,” said Charles Crain, the managing vice president for policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, whose board of directors includes executives from Caterpillar, Dow Inc., Pfizer and Toyota.
New York Times News Service
