Inside Walmart’s $30 Billion Fashion Reinvention
January 1, 2026
TRADE | TARIFFS
/ With peak season looming, and little clarity on whether trade deals will be made before the 90-day tariff pause ends, brands are scrambling to find solutions.
Brands face tough choices. Especially heading into what typically is peak season.
Brands face tough choices. Especially heading into what typically is peak season.
Do they try ship more now in case trade tension worsen? But risk carrying excess inventory at a time when consumer demand is very uncertain?
Or for the time being, do they keep inventory lean – but risk facing crushing tariffs if trade talks fail?
With few good choices, for many brands it comes down to which is strategy has the lowest downside risk.
And that is not easy to determine.
Inventory build up and potential logistics logjams are only part of the problem.
As peak season looms closer, US brands are struggling to figure out how they will handle the cost of tariffs – especially if trade deals have not been made with key apparel sourcing nations.
While prevailing sentiment has been trade deals will be made and the worst of the crisis will be averted – no one can be sure.
Right now, with tariffs at 10% during the 90-day ‘pause’, brands are uncertain about how much they can pass on to consumers.
Manufacturers have been backed into a corner on price, but they can’t carry the entire cost burden. By forcing them to cut prices too sharply, brands risk killing good suppliers who won’t be easy to replace.
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