Beijing officials met with Walmart this week to discuss media reports that the U.S. retailer has asked Chinese suppliers to slash prices on their goods to offset the impact of the Trump administration's tariffs, according to CCTV-affiliated social media posts.
The posts, published on Wednesday on the Weibo account of Yuyuantantian, which is affiliated with state-run CCTV, said the meeting between China's commerce ministry and Walmart representatives was held on March 11. The posts cited sources familiar with the meeting.
Neither Walmart nor China's commerce ministry immediately responded to Reuters' requests for comments.
Last week, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources, that certain Chinese suppliers, including makers of kitchenware and clothing, had been asked to lower their prices by as much as 10% per round of tariffs, essentially shouldering the full cost of duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier in March, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had expressed confidence that Chinese manufacturers would absorb U.S. tariffs that went into effect last week.
"I am highly confident that the Chinese manufacturers will eat the tariffs, (and) prices won't go up," Bessent told Fox News in an interview last Tuesday.