President Trump has taken aim at at least four retailers in recent weeks over possible tariff price hikes with an effort that, for now at least, is largely about applying public pressure to CEOs.

"I'll be watching," he told Walmart (WMT), with harsh words also directed toward Amazon (AMZN), Ford (F), and Mattel (MAT).

There are also hints Trump could do more than just watch with additional tariffs threatened in one instance and an array of additional tools at the president's disposal if he decided to escalate further.

Options range from things like industry-wide investigations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), other government investigations into specific products and company profits, pushing for new Capitol Hill legislation on the issue, or even price controls via executive order.President Donald Trump points at photographers as he arrives at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., in April. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)·ASSOCIATED PRESS

If some of those options sound familiar, that's because many of these tools were considered and even employed during Joe Biden's presidency as part of the then-Democratic charges of "price gouging" amid inflation. Formal inquiries were even launched in certain areas like meatpacking.

Other options for Trump stretch back much further, notably a Richard Nixon-issued executive order in 1971 that imposed a 90-day freeze on wages and prices during that inflation crisis.

Increasing presidential openness to action on prices

Ryan Bourne, an economist at the Cato Institute, has studied the issue and says the US remains a long ways politically from something like those draconian Nixon-era policies.

But he nevertheless sees a sort of bipartisan elevation in recent years in government willingness to interfere in business pricing decisions.

"I do worry that we're on the conveyor belt towards that type of policy," he said of price controls in a recent interview.

For now, he added, businesses are in an environment where CEOs "increasingly have to second-guess how the president or the administration will react to them."

Trump has not suggested that price controls are in the offing. He also spent much of the last campaign attacking a Kamala Harris plan for a ban on food price gouging with his allies saying it amounted to "Soviet-style" controls.

Yet Trump has made clear he is aggressively watching the issue and keeping his options open, posting this past weekend that Walmart, along with China, should "'EAT THE TARIFFS,' and not charge valued customers ANYTHING."

Likewise, a plan by Amazon to label tariff costs was labeled by the White House a "hostile and political act."

Story Continues

Trump also responded to a suggestion that Ford could raise prices by saying "they wouldn't sell any cars" if they did and that if Mattel acted, "we'll put a hundred percent tariff on his toys."

A 'signaling' question for companies

Trump has also seen some results from his public-pressure campaign, which included multiple calls to CEOs from both the president and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

One recent success for the White House came when Home Depot (HD) publicly pledged in multiple interviews this week not to raise prices.

It's a stance that Trump's aides celebrated, but D.A. Davidson Managing Director Michael Baker argued in a recent Yahoo Finance video interview that it was a stance that wasn't that different from Walmart's.

"It's much more about signaling," he said. "I don't really think those two companies, Home Depot and Walmart, are doing things that much differently. It's just how it's articulated."A Walmart sign is displayed in 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)·Joe Raedle via Getty Images

And Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research noted that other companies may have little choice but to risk Trump's ire given thin profit margins in retail, writing, "if they don't raise their prices ... that's not a sustainable business model."

The situation has been further confused by the White House often taking the position that it's foreign companies that absorb the tariffs, even as multiple retailers have offered warnings about the pressure they are under.

"The president is committed to ensuring that prices remain low for American consumers, and he maintains the position that foreign countries will absorb these tariffs," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said recently.

Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

Yet it's a position that few economists agree with. The Cato Institute's Bourne said this week that increasing pressure on prices could fuel the developing bipartisan narrative that "greedflation" — the charge of companies taking excessive profits during a crisis — is a problem that needs addressing.

During Biden's presidency, "you saw a lot of browbeating of companies over shrinkflation and junk fees," he said, adding that something similar could take further root under Trump, especially if tariff-fueled price volatility leads to unrest for consumers.

For now, though, Bourne added, "I fundamentally think this is just about trying to jawbone companies."

Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

View Comments