Topic > Costco Political-Legal Factors

Costco operates in 11 countries but there are 2 countries that contain 82% of their stores; Canada and the United States Canada has been able to maintain a good score in terms of political stability over the past two decades, which is good news for Costco because it means that there should be no sudden changes that could cause Costco to suffer. The United States, on the other hand, has suffered a sharp decline in political stability since President Trump took office, according to the Fortune website the United States was the 13th most worsened country in 2017 due to Trump's unpredictability. This could lead to a possible economic recession and cause Costco to become very successful because of its inexpensive items or lose everything because people will not get enough profit from purchasing a Costco membership and will see more benefits by going to a store like Walmart where they have low prices with no paid membership needed. Costco relies heavily on importing goods, and Trump is planning to impose a tariff on imported goods that could be between 20% and 30%. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay This will have a huge impact on Costco because this means they will have to raise their prices by at least 20-30% and by doing so this will create a smaller gap between their prices and the locally sourced goods they are trying to sell. Costco has already released a statement saying it is exposed to Trump's plan and will have no choice but to impose these increased price tariffs on consumers. If this “major border tax” is implemented, Costco will have to replace some items with locally sourced goods, and regardless, there will be price increases due to increased spending on locally sourced goods or increased tariffs. Another solution could be to reduce the cost of the subscription slightly to recover the price increase. If you take a look at Costco's environmental impacts page on their website, it's clear that they are doing everything they can to source their food from clean, sustainable farmers. One way we can see this is in a recent article talking about a new farm from which Costco will source millions of pounds of chicken for years to come. This article explains how the farm will use dry litter instead of wet manure to reduce waste runoff and improve waterway safety. Another interesting point is that they are requiring all growers to obtain a permit from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and create a nutrient management plan, even though neither of these are legally required. This is one way Costco has shown that it will do more to ensure its products come from clean, ethical farms. Another way Costco has recently shown its belief in clean farming is its stance on insecticides. A recent article states that “Costco is asking suppliers to phase out neonicotinoids.” This is due to the damage they have on bee populations and Costco has made it clear that they will not allow this. For these reasons it is clear to me that Costco is not only trying to follow these new environmental policies, but is trying to demonstrate that they will do their best to protect this environment and that is a selling point for many consumers. If consumers know they are buying their products from an ethical company they will feel much better about themselves and feel that their food comes from good quality farms. Costco has been involved in several lawsuits for many reasons, but..