Quote:Voters who returned Donald Trump to the Oval Office in hopes that living costs would return to the halcyon days before the pandemic may be in for a shock. Arkansas-based Walmart, the world’s largest retailer that traditionally has catered to working- and middle-class Americans, warned the President-elect’s plans to hike import duties across the board will be felt by everyday consumers. "Tariffs are going to be inflationary, there’s no disputing that,” Walmart finance chief John David Rainey told Fox News on Thursday. “A tariff is a tax on a foreign country, that’s the way it is whether you like it or not,” Trump promised supporters at an August rally in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. “It’s a tax on a country that’s ripping us off and stealing our jobs.” The National Retail Federation, however, begged to disagree. Unless exporters are both willing and able to drop their factory gate prices in order to maintain volumes, the costs will entirely be borne by Americans—either directly in the form of import duties, indirectly through higher prices passed on to the customer, or some mix thereof. “A tariff is a tax paid by the U.S. importer, not a foreign country or the exporter,” NRF vice president Jonathan Gold said. Walmart finance boss Rainey said the massive retailer would do its utmost to cushion the blow—but pain was inevitable. “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 told Fox News. “But we’re not immune, and tariffs will be inflationary for customers.”