Home Depot plans to keep prices stable in the face of tariffs, bucking competitors | CNN Business


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Home Depot's Pricing Strategy

Despite rising costs due to President Trump's tariffs, Home Depot intends to maintain price stability on most items. This strategy aims to capture market share from competitors who are raising prices. The company has diversified its sourcing, reducing reliance on China and emphasizing US-made products.

Impact of Tariffs

While Home Depot expects to absorb the majority of tariff costs, they may eliminate some product lines or raise prices on select items impacted by tariffs. Weakened consumer sentiment and a sluggish housing market are negatively affecting sales, alongside concerns over potential future lumber tariff increases.

Competitor Actions

In contrast, several of Home Depot's competitors, including Stanley Black & Decker and Walmart, have announced price increases due to tariff-related costs. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon stated that they were unable to absorb all the pressure due to narrow retail margins. President Trump publicly criticized companies for raising prices in response to tariffs.

Home Depot's Risk

The success of Home Depot's strategy relies on the company's ability to absorb the added costs without significantly impacting profitability and while navigating the uncertainty of trade policies and consumer confidence. The risk of future lumber tariff hikes also remains.

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New York CNN  — 

Home Depot plans to keep most of its prices stable, despite President Donald Trump’s tariffs driving costs up. But tariffs may cause Home Depot to increase prices on select items and eliminate some product lines entirely.

“We don’t see broad based price increases for our customers at all going forward,” Home Depot executive Billy Bastek said on an earnings call with analysts Tuesday. “There are items that we have that could potentially be impacted from a tariff that, candidly, we won’t have going forward.”

Home Depot said it has diversified where it sources its merchandise and reduced its reliance on China. More than half of Home Depot’s products come from the United States. The company is betting that holding prices down will help it gain market share against competitors, Bastek said.

But the trade war has begun to hurt Home Depot. Consumer sentiment has plunged near record lows as Americans fear tariffs will reignite inflation and weaken the economy. That, in part, kept some customers away from the home improvement behemoth.

Home Depot reported sluggish earnings, weighed down by a weak housing market and consumers taking on fewer large-scale renovation projects. Sales at US stores open for at least one year increased 0.2% last quarter.

A wave of companies have announced price hikes because of the added costs of tariffs.

Many of Home Depot’s competitors and suppliers have been raising prices to mitigate cost increases from the 10% universal tariffs on every product entering the United States and higher levies on Chinese goods. Washington and Beijing reached an agreement to lower those tariffs last week, but the United States still charges a 30% levy on most goods coming from China.

Home Depot has also caught a break so far on lumber tariffs, a major part of its business. But that could change soon. About 30% of the softwood lumber consumed in the US is imported, with Canada accounting for north of 80% of those imports. Lumber is expected to soon face a tariff hike.

In April, Stanley Black & Decker, the owner of Dewalt, Craftsman, Black + Decker and other power tool brands, raised prices by an average of high single-digits because of tariffs. It plans to introduce a second round of increases later in the year, the company said on an earnings call.

Walmart said Trump’s tariffs are “too high” and it will raise prices on some items as Trump’s global trade war increases the company’s costs.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible. But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said last week on an earnings call.

“The higher tariffs will result in higher prices,” he said.

Trump is using his bully pulpit to publicly shame Walmart and other companies that hike prices because of tariffs, making companies’ price decisions more fraught.

“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump said over the weekend. “Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, “EAT THE TARIFFS,” and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

Trump has also attacked Amazon and Mattel for considering price hikes.

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