Amazon is pushing back against reports that the e-commerce giant is planning to display how much President Trump’s tariffs added to the cost, stating these plans were not approved and “not going to happen.”
The comments came hours after the White House bashed Amazon for the reported plans, calling it a “hostile and political act.”
“The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products. This was never approved and is not going to happen,” Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said in a statement to The Hill.
Amazon Haul is a storefront offered by Amazon that offers lower-priced products across various categories. The company states the storefront “makes it easier than ever to discover sought-after products.”
Punchbowl News reported Tuesday that Amazon was planning to display on its website how much the price of an item increased as a result of the tariffs imposed by the White House.
Trump imposed a 145 percent overall tariff on products from China and 10 percent tariffs on all other U.S. trading partners.
Responding to the report on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt bashed Amazon.
“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon. Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest levels in 40 years?” Leavitt said, adding, “This is another reason why Americans should buy American. 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.”
Leavitt said she spoke with Trump earlier in the day about Amazon’s announcement and told reporters she would not comment on Trump’s relationship with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who attended the president’s inauguration in January.
“I will not speak to the president’s relationships with Jeff Bezos, but I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile and political act by Amazon,” Leavitt said.
Trump and Bezos spoke on Tuesday morning about the reports a source familiar told The Hill. Amazon and Bezos’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other media reports on Tuesday suggested Bezos backed away from the idea after speaking with Trump.
Trump later said Bezos “did the right thing” by not displaying tariff costs on Amazon.
“Great, Jeff Bezos was very nice, he was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly. And, he did the right thing and he’s a good guy,” Trump said.
Updated 3:23 p.m. EDT
Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.
