President Donald Trump, a notorious Coca-Cola lover who even installed a Diet Coke button on his Oval Office desk (twice), has implemented tariffs that may raise the cost of a Pepsi.
PepsiCo, which produces Pepsi, Doritos, Cheetos and other popular snacks, sources almost all of its U.S. soda concentrate from Ireland — unlike its competitor Coca-Cola. Now, thanks to Trump’s sweeping tariffs, PepsiCo is no longer expecting its earnings to rise this year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Rising supply-chain costs due to tariffs, as well as a drop in consumer confidence linked to fears of inflation and Trump’s trade war, are behind the company’s darker earnings projection.
PepsiCo executives are already moving to mitigate rising costs, but the details of the plans are unclear, according to the Journal.
Coca-Cola could also suffer following Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and its impact on soda cans. However, CEO James Quincy said Coca-Cola will likely turn toward more plastic packaging to lower its tariff costs, according to the Journal.
Trump first announced his sweeping tariffs earlier this month, in what he called “Liberation Day” for the U.S. He placed ten percent tariffs on goods from nearly every country, and added levies depending on other nations’ trade relationships with the U.S.
Days later, Trump issued a 90-day pause on the tariffs, though continued his across-the-board 10 percent levies. He also continued all tariffs on imported cars and car parts, steel and aluminum, and raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 percent. China hit back, imposing a 125 percent retaliatory tariff on American goods.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday there will likely be a de-escalation of the current trade tensions with China, but China doesn’t seem to have received the memo.
Trump and his top trade negotiators have said they want to reach deals with 90 countries in as many days — but experts say there’s “no way” that’s possible.
"Teeing up these decisions is going to take some serious negotiations," Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. Trade Representative chief negotiator, told Reuters earlier this month. "There's no way during this timeframe we're doing a comprehensive agreement with any of these countries."
A CBS News/YouGov poll from earlier this month reveals that Trump’s tariffs are impacting his support, with his economic approval rating dropping four points from March. Sixty percent of respondents also indicated they disapprove of his tariffs.
