By Mucahithan Avcioglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US consumers will likely see consumer prices rising in the next few days as President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the US’ biggest neighbors take effect on Tuesday, according to the CEO of major retail chain Target.
Brian Cornell said Target depends significantly on Mexican produce in the winter, and the tariffs may force the popular chain to raise fruit and vegetable prices as early as this week.
"We'll try to protect pricing in those categories, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days," he told financial channel CNBC-E on Tuesday
"Those prices will go up if there is a 25% tariff," he added.
He stressed that the cost of food such as bananas, avocados, and strawberries may increase.
In February, Trump’s first full month in office in his return second term, US consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 2021, which sparked worries about tariffs.
According to Cornell, "there is some concern about tariffs," which exacerbates the strain that customers are currently under.
On how customers at the company's stores might be impacted by the combined 20% levies on Chinese goods, he said Target's reliance on imports from China has decreased from over 60% to around 30%.
The US imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports on Tuesday, fueling fears of an escalating global trade war.
Trump has also doubled tariffs on China from 10% to 20% and also threatened higher tariffs on EU countries.
Trump has said the tariffs will punish “unfair” trade partners, but most economists say it is consumers who end up paying for most of the cost of higher tariffs.