A significant rift appears to be opening between the Trump Administration and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, sparking an explosive press briefing earlier today. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described Amazon’s purported plans to display the costs of tariffs next to product listings as a “hostile and political act” and accused Amazon / Bezos of partnering with a “Chinese propaganda arm.”
The media storm was precipitated during a briefing to mark 100 days of the second Trump presidency when a reporter asked about the above-linked report. Tariffs were already hotly debated, and then the Punchbowl News report asserting that Amazon is preparing to “display tariff costs” up-front in its product listings was highlighted. The source publication only cites someone familiar with the plans, and Amazon hasn’t responded to these reports yet. Nevertheless, the knives were quickly unsheathed during the White House presser.
According to CNBC, the question about Amazon’s purported plans was rather pointed. An unnamed reporter asked if the government representatives agreed that Amazon’s move was a “crystal clear demonstration that it’s the American consumer, and not China, who is going to have to pay for these policies.”
Leavitt didn’t hold back in her criticism of this notion. She stepped up, saying she had just gotten off the phone with the President discussing this matter. “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” asserted Leavitt, before adding, “This is another reason why Americans should buy American.” The press secretary had her own questions, and retorted, “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”
Is Amazon going where Temu and Shein have already gone?
If this ‘tariff transparency’ initiative happens, it will mark a sharp change in Amazon’s recent Trump appeasement plans. Bezos warmly congratulated Trump on his election victory and donated $1 million to the new President’s inauguration fund. Amazon might have thought it was smartly dodging the ire of its customers by shifting the blame for impending price rises to tariffs. Now, instead, it is facing fire from the White House.
Would Amazon be right to follow in Temu and Shein’s footsteps in highlighting tariffs as part of product pricing? Perhaps that decision hasn’t even been made yet – and the warning shots from the White House could steer Amazon / Bezos to play the plausible deniability card.
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