'Not immune': Walmart confirms new tariffs will mean higher prices for customers

Walmart — the world's largest retailer — is now issuing a warning to customers that they may be paying more for the same products if President-elect Donald Trump makes good on his promise to impose new tariffs on imports.

Fortune reported Friday that Walmart's finance chief, John David Rainey, has acknowledged that new tariffs would likely be passed on to the people buying goods imported from overseas. Currently, anywhere from 70% to 80% of goods sold at Walmart are made in China, and could be affected by potential new tariffs. In September, PBS reported that Trump proposed tariffs as high as 60% on imports from China, and 20% tariffs on products made elsewhere.

"Tariffs are going to be inflationary, there’s no disputing that," Rainey said earlier this week.

READ MORE: How Trump's tariffs would 'aggressively transfer wealth from the poor to the rich: journalist

“We’re going to work with our suppliers as well as our own private brand assortment to continue to try to bring down prices for customers,” he added. “But we’re not immune, and tariffs will be inflationary for customers.”

While Trump has argued that a tariff is a tax imposed on a foreign country with no downside for Americans, the National Retail Federation (NRF) says that's not true. On the eve of Election Day, NRF vice president Jonathan Gold stated that unless exporters are willing to drop factory gate prices, tariffs will be paid with either higher import duties, higher prices or a combination of the two.

"A tariff is a tax paid by the U.S. importer, not a foreign country or the exporter," Gold said.

In September, journalist David Cay Johnston pointed out that if Trump's proposed tariffs become reality, it would incentivize American companies to raise prices far beyond what it would cost to cover the tariff in order to maximize profit margins. He warned that in this way, Trump's key economic proposal would "aggressively transfer wealth from the poor to the rich."

READ MORE: Trump's newest policy proposal would be a 'huge tax increase' for the middle class: analysis

Click here to read Fortune's report in full.