Albertsons Supermarket Chain Tells Suppliers: We Won’t Accept Price Hikes

North America’s second-largest supermarket chain is warning its suppliers that it won’t accept price hikes due to President Trump’s recent wave of tariffs.

Albertsons operates over 2,200 grocery stores, including Balducci’s, Kings, and Acme in the New York area. I Photo: Roadsidepictures Flickr

Albertsons — which operates over 2,200 grocery stores, including Balducci’s, Kings, and Acme in the New York area — sent a letter to suppliers last month stating that significant price hikes require prior authorization, Ryan King reported for the New York Post.

“With few exceptions, we are not accepting cost increases due to tariffs,” the letter stated, as first reported by American Economic Liberties Project researcher Matt Stoller.

“Suppliers are not permitted to include tariff-related costs in invoices without prior authorization by Albertsons Companies,” the Idaho-based chain added. “Any invoices that include such charges without prior authorization will be subject to dispute and may result in payment delays.”

Stoller, who conducts anti-monopoly research, criticized Albertsons’ policy, calling it unreasonable.

“That’s absurd, since the cost of many items is going to spike, and suppliers will go out of business if they can’t cover those increased costs,” he wrote in a newsletter.

“Yet the arrogance speaks to the power of buyers like Albertsons. And Albertsons is nothing compared to Walmart or Amazon.”

In recent weeks, Trump has imposed a 10% baseline tariff on virtually all goods entering the U.S.

He has also levied 25% tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum, and on imports from Canada and Mexico that do not comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).