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Walmart says expect price hikes due to tariffs. What will get more expensive and when?

Shoppers at Walmart, the world’s largest retailer known for being budget-friendly, may soon start to see higher prices on the shelves as the company reacts to President Donald Trump 's evolving trade policy.

The president accused Walmart of unfairly blaming his tariffs for its expected price hikes, suggesting the company should “eat the tariffs” and not pass import taxes on to consumers in a post to Truth Social.

“We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we won’t stop,” Walmart spokesperson Joe Pennington told USA TODAY in response to Trump’s comments. “We’ll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins.”

Despite increased revenue and operating income in the first quarter, Walmart executives have said those small margins are still likely to drive prices higher.

Here’s what to know about which Walmart items could cost more and when:

More: Trump, China agree to slash tariffs for 90 days: What to know

Walmart says expect price hikes due to tariffs. What will get more expensive and when?

When will Walmart prices go up?

John David Rainey, Walmart’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, told CNBC that prices could rise as early as the end of May or in June.

“The level of tariffs that have been proposed is pretty challenging for all retailers, for suppliers, and certainly our concern is that consumers are going to feel some of that,” Rainey said.

Robert Handfield, professor of supply chain management at North Carolina State University previously told USA TODAY Walmart took in “a lot” of advance shipments to prevent empty shelves when they saw the tariffs coming.

“Their warehouses are full of product because they planned ahead,” Handfield said in April. “When they’re depleting inventory and need to restock, that’s where problems are, potentially.”

What is going to get more expensive at Walmart?

On a May 15 quarterly earnings call with investors, Walmart President Douglas McMillon reiterated that the company is hoping to keep prices as low as possible but singled out some goods that could be most impacted by tariffs.

McMillon said tariffs on countries including Costa Rica, Peru, and Columbia could affect the price of some perishable items sold at Walmart, including bananas, avocados, coffee, and roses.

He also specifically mentioned electronics and toys. Trump directly addressed the toy industry in April, which could be one of the hardest hit by tariffs as 75% of toys sold in the U.S. are imported from China, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department .

"Somebody said, 'Oh, the shelves are gonna be open,'" Trump told reporters . "Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more."

Although Rainey reminded investors earlier this year that more than two-thirds of what Walmart sells is made in the U.S., McMillon noted the company sells imported goods from all over the world.

On the May 15 call, he said the other large markets are China, Mexico, Vietnam, India, and Canada – all of which have been hit with higher tariffs since Trump took office in January.

“There are certain items, certain categories of merchandise that we’re dependent upon to import from other countries, and prices of those things are likely going to go up, and that’s not good for consumers,” McMillon said.

Contributing: Kathryn Palmer

Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her on X @rachelbarber_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Walmart items will get more expensive and when?