Target CEO rejects Kamala Harris’ grocery price hike ban

One extremely competitive sector that retailcompanies cannot afford to hire price increaseaim (TGT) CEO Brian Cornell says.

“We’re in a money business,” Cornell said during a Wednesday appearance on CNBC, next the retail giant’s strong quarterly earnings.

Cornell has denied claims that Target (TGT) raised prices to boost profits and said profits in the retail sector were already slim, with every cent counting. Because shoppers have numerous options, including “the ability to shop in-store and online,” retailers must be much more price-conscious to avoid losing business, Cornell said. He did not address whether other retailers were involved price increase.

Cornell’s comments came after Vice President Kamala Harris, who targets high food prices, said she would implement a federal ban on corporate price gouging if he is elected president.

Retail executives balked in the days following that proposal.

“I thought we would have learned by now that price controls don’t work,” Kellogg CEO Carlos Gutierreza former Commerce secretary told CNBC on Tuesday. “They actually have the opposite effect. They create more inflation, they create shortages, they create a black market.”

Target beat Wall Street expectations in its second-quarter earnings report Wednesday, driven in part by price cuts the retail giant implemented in May. At the time, Target said it would slash prices on nearly 5,000 items everyday.