(NEXSTAR) – The CEO of Target said Tuesday that be believes that President Donald Trump’s move to place tariffs on goods imported from Mexico would likely increase prices at its U.S. retail outlets, at least in specific “categories.”
“We know, for certain categories, like fruits and vegetables, where, during this winter season, we depend on Mexico for a significant amount of supply — those are categories where we’ll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning.
The time frame, he added, was due to “really short supply chains” in the fresh produce category.
When asked if items like avocados, bananas and strawberries, specifically, might be affected by these tariffs, Cornell affirmed that they would.
“Those are some of the key items,” he said.
Cornell did not indicate which other categories might be affected by tariffs on other Mexican imports, nor any Canadian or Chinese imports. He did say, however, that Target has worked to source a larger percentage of its goods from outside of China. (“Over 60%” of imports were once coming from China, but now that number is around 30%, he claimed.)
Cornell also declined to name other specific categories during a meeting with reporters Tuesday, warning that “things are unfolding so quickly.”
“But we don’t want to overreact right now to one day and one headline,” he said, the Associated Press reported.
A representative for Target was not immediately available to provide additional information.
Target’s fourth-quarter results were announced Tuesday, beating overall estimates despite sales and profits slipping during the crucial holiday season. But shares still fell 5% in early afternoon trading as the overall market sell-off continued, with stocks tumbling on Wall Street as a trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners escalated, wiping out all the gains for the S&P 500 since Election Day.
President Trump announced that, as of Tuesday, imports from Canada and Mexico are now to be taxed at 25%, with Canadian energy products subject to 10% import duties. The 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February was doubled to 20%.
China responded to new U.S. tariffs by announcing it will impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies. Canada plans on slapping tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. Mexico also plans tariffs on goods imported from the U.S.
The tariffs are prompting concern among American consumers and warnings from retailers such as Target and Best Buy: The latter’s CEO said prices for retail consumers will likely increase, as it sources most products from Mexico and China.
“International trade is critically important to our business and industry,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said.
The tariffs may further spike prices on clothing, toys, auto parts, gasoline, liquor and other imports from Mexico, Canada and China, experts say.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed the implementation of tariffs on his country during an address on Tuesday, echoing the opinion of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board that it was a “dumb” idea.
“It’s not in my habit to agree with The Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” Trudeau said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.