Tariff Impact: Costco Holds Off on Raising Prices

The big box retailer said raising prices would be a ‘last resort’ while Walmart said it would make price changes.

June 02, 2025

Costco Wholesale missed analyst expectations for third-quarter revenue and said it “had pulled forward shipments of some goods it had planned to import this summer to lower the impact of U.S. tariffs,” according to a report from Reuters.

According to the report, Costco said raising prices would be a "last resort," unlike Walmart, which has said that it would have to start raising prices.

Costco is taking steps to “reduce its exposure to tariffs by pulling orders forward and moving the sourcing of its private-label products to the regions where they are sold,” wrote the Wall Street Journal.

These actions have helped lower costs for the warehouse-club chain, while also enabling it to avoid sharp price increases for consumers, Chief Executive Ron Vachris said on a call with analysts last Thursday.

According to the Journal, the evolving tariff landscape has complicated Costco’s operations, per Costco Wholesale Finance Chief Gary Millerchip. Moving forward, he said the company would continue working with suppliers to lessen tariff costs, including moving more production and sourcing to other countries where it makes sense to do so.

Target, meanwhile, has opted not to raise prices but slashed its annual outlook.

While Costco is grappling with tariffs, NACS Daily reported last week that Costco announced it would expand the hours of its members-only fuel centers from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.