The world's largest e-commerce company, Amazon, reviewed a plan to display amounts added as tariffs to some product prices, but quickly withdrew the execution plan after the White House protested. Major foreign news outlets reported that President Donald Trump directly called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to express his dissatisfaction.
On the 29th (local time), Amazon released a statement saying, "The team operating the ultra-low-cost product 'Amazon Haul' store reviewed the idea of displaying import expenses for certain products; however, this was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and was not implemented on any Amazon platform." Amazon emphasized that this review was not approved and that it "will not be implemented in the future."
Prior to this, U.S. media Punchbowl News reported that Amazon would start indicating the costs added as tariffs next to product prices. White House Spokesperson Caroline Levitt noted during a press briefing that this represents "Amazon's hostile and political actions" and questioned, "Why didn't Amazon take this action when the previous Biden administration recorded the highest inflation in 40 years?"
During the briefing, Levitt held up a printed copy of a Reuters article from December 2021 and remarked that "Amazon collaborated with Chinese propaganda agencies," adding that Amazon's decision to display tariffs is "not surprising." The article he referenced details that Amazon censored user reviews on a book featuring speeches and writings by President Xi Jinping on its Chinese website.
CNN and NBC reported that President Trump expressed significant anger and called Bezos directly to voice his complaints after being made aware of Amazon-related content prior to the White House briefing.
The 'Amazon Haul' store is a shopping mall targeting low-cost product platforms Temu and Shein, selling ultra-low-priced items under $20. Amazon has been operating it since November last year. Competitor Temu began adding around 145% in 'import charges' to product prices starting last weekend in response to U.S. tariff imposition.