The effect of tariffs can be felt on almost everything you’re buying right now, but how much are they actually costing you? It can be really hard to keep track. Some companies have been open about price hikes, but Amazon will not be one of them.
A report from Punchbowl News on Tuesday cited a source who was familiar with the plan as saying that Amazon intended to make it known to shoppers exactly how much of a difference the tariffs are making to the price of items they want to buy.
Amazon later in the day shut down the claim. “The team that runs our ultra low-cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products,” company spokesperson Tim Doyle said in an emailed statement. “This was never approved and is not going to happen.”
Even before Amazon denied the reported plan, President Donald Trump made it clear he was unhappy with the idea of the company listing tariff costs. “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a briefing. According a report by CNN, Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday morning to complain about the rumored plan.
Tariffs have been sending costs soaring across shopping platforms, with reports that products on Chinese sites Temu and Shein have seen price hikes of up to 377%. Even though Amazon is a US company, it’s also feeling the impacts of increased import charges, with many products available across the platform originating in China.
“This is another reason why Americans should buy American,” Leavitt said Tuesday. Separately on Tuesday, Amazon announced its plans for the upcoming Prime Day sale. The shopping event will once again take place in July and offer savings across all categories of products, though with the tariffs, it’s hard to say whether the savings this time will be as significant as on previous Prime Day sales.
Things are changing quickly right now, creating an “unpredictable environment,” said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight in an email. “The big companies I’ve spoken to are all taking a cautious approach before making dramatic price changes or product decisions in the hope that things might calm down. If not, price rises are unfortunately almost inevitable later in the year.”
Watch this: Should You Buy Now or Wait? Our Experts Weigh In on Tariffs
