Recently, Amazon considered displaying U.S. tariffs (import taxes) alongside product prices on its budget shopping platform Amazon Haul, which sparked a strong reaction from the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the move during a press briefing, calling it a “hostile and political act.” She stated:
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when inflation was at record highs under the Biden administration? This clearly shows Amazon’s political bias.”
President Donald Trump personally called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to express his displeasure over the plan. Shortly after the call, Amazon released a statement clarifying that the idea was never approved and would not be implemented.
Amazon explained that the idea was only under preliminary discussion for Amazon Haul, not the main website. The company said it had merely considered displaying import charges on select products, but that the plan has now been completely scrapped.
Following the controversy:
- Amazon’s stock initially dropped but recovered later in the day.
- U.S. Commerce Secretary and other officials praised Amazon’s clarification, calling it a “good move.”
- Leavitt further alleged that Amazon had previously complied with demands from the Chinese government, such as removing customer reviews from a book featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speeches.
Amazon is currently facing pressure from Trump’s aggressive trade policy, particularly the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. Since around 70% of Amazon’s inventory is sourced from China, sellers are now raising prices in response.
Meanwhile, other Chinese e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein have already started clearly displaying import charges on their checkout pages—Temu, for example, now adds up to 145% in import fees per item.