Earlier this week, executives of the US retailer Walmart were summoned to Beijing for talks with officials from the Ministry of Commerce and other government departments, Global Times and the South China Morning Post report. The move suggested more punitive actions from China could follow recent tariff hikes from both sides, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The meeting was to address rumours that Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, was demanding that some of its Chinese suppliers slash their prices – shifting the burden of US President Trump’s new tariffs on to Chinese companies instead of US consumers.
CCTV’s social media account, Yuyuantantian, posted a statement saying that “Walmart’s unilateral demand on Chinese firms to cut prices could lead to disruptions of supply chains and hurt the interests of firms and consumers from both countries.”
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It continued to predict that if Walmart continued to demand price cuts, “what would happen next would be beyond talks.”
On Wednesday, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT) issued a statement urging major US retailers to address international trade issues fairly and reasonably.
Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times that US retailers were clearly feeling the pressure of rising costs, which were being passed down the supply chain to US consumers. He noted that the situation stemmed from additional cumulative tariffs of 20 percent on Chinese imports, imposed by Washington.
