Home Depot Says No to Tariff-Driven Price Hikes

Retailers like Walmart have already announced price hikes in anticipation of tightening profit margins amid President Donald Trump’s trade war, but Home Depot is decidedly not one of them. In fact, the retailer has announced it will not raise its prices.

On May 20, Home Depot’s chief financial officer, Richard McPhail, told CNBC that the retailer has no plan to increase their prices in response to Trump’s tariffs going into effect. “Because of our scale, the great partnerships we have with our suppliers and productivity that we continue to drive in our business, we intend to generally maintain our current pricing levels across our portfolio,” he said.

McPhail explained that more than half of the company’s products are made in the U.S., as the company had long been working to diversify its imports. By 2026, McPhail anticipates that no country outside the U.S. will represent more than 10% of Home Depot’s products.

Home Depot is confident that maintaining steady prices will be good for business. “It’s a great opportunity for us to take share, and it’s a great opportunity for our suppliers to take share as well,” McPhail said in an earnings call.

While home improvement spending is down because of sky-high interest and mortgage rates, Home Depot’s CEO, Ted Decker, says the retailer’s opportunities for sales growth lie in smaller projects around the home. “People are painting again and working in their yards and doing smaller projects, but just have not engaged in the larger projects,” Decker said. “Our customer is healthy, and we think that’s what has supported their level of engagement in home improvement,” he said.

Only time will tell if Home Depot sticks to its current plan in the long term. Trump’s administration announced on May 12 that tariffs on China would be slashed from 125% to only 30% for 90 days (perfect timing for Home Depot, as their peak sales season is the spring).