After White House rebuke, Amazon says it never planned to post import charges
After Punchbowl News reported Tuesday morning that Amazon would start showing how much of a product’s cost came from tariffs, the White House quickly slammed the proposal.
“I just got off the phone with the president about Amazon’s announcement — this is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
It wasn’t the only phone call about the issue on Tuesday: President Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after he learned about the news story laying out a plan to show tariff price hikes, two sources said on condition of anonymity to speak about the private conversation.
Later in the morning, the retail giant said that was not the plan at all.
“The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products,” Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said in a statement. “This was never approved and is not going to happen.”
Amazon Haul is a part of the company’s website that sells products costing $20 or less.
The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration — including a 10% tariff on global imports and a 145% tariff on Chinese goods — have companies and economic experts warning that prices could likely rise for American consumers.
Amazon was the second-largest U.S. retailer by sales last year, according to the National Retail Federation, trailing only Walmart.
Responding to the Punchbowl article, Leavitt said consumers should endeavor to buy products made in the U.S. “It’s another reason why we are onshoring critical supply chains here at home, to shore up our own critical supply chain and boost our own manufacturing here.”
Bezos has been seen as supportive of Trump. Amazon donated to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Bezos attended the ceremony in January. Last year, the management of the Bezos-owned Washington Post declined to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in 36 years. As NPR reported at the time, the announcement came after the newspaper’s editorial page editor had approved an endorsement for Trump’s rival, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
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