April 29 (UPI) — Amazon said it will not display the cost of tariffs on its products after the White House responded to a report about the potential practice by calling it a “hostile and political” act.
On Tuesday, PunchBowl news reported that Amazon would “soon” show just how much the President Donald Trump’s tariff plan would add to the price on most of its products, displaying how much of an item’s cost was derived from Trump’s tariffs next to the product’s listed total price.
The White House forcefully pushed back later in the morning.
“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”
The reported plan by Amazon came as Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on scores of U.S. trading partners, and 145% tariffs on some products from China in a softened stance on some tech and auto products.
But Amazon said the idea was “never approved” and “is not going to happen.”
“Teams discuss ideas all the time,” Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle wrote in a statement.
Economists and business leaders predict that Trump’s tariff policies are inflationary and that the cost will ultimately be passed down to American consumers by way of higher prices.
According to Doyle, the Amazon team that runs its ultra-low cost Amazon Haul store allegedly “considered” the idea of listing import charges on “certain products.”
In the press briefing, Leavitt cited and held up a copy of a 2021 report that showed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos which purported ties with a so-called “Chinese propaganda arm” that alleged Amazon complied with a Chinese government order preventing customers from rating President Xi Jinping’s government-published book.
Leavitt said it was “another why Americans should buy American.”
However, Leavitt said she would “not speak to the president’s relationships with Jeff Bezos.”
Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, caught fire in October when he forced the legacy news outlet to not endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in early 40 years in the race between Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Bezos later donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and was prominently seated behind the newly-elected Trump at his January 20 inauguration along with other tech executives like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and White House adviser Elon Musk.
“This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties,” company officials said.
Also on Tuesday, Bessent said at the press briefing that 18 nations had offered a possible trade proposal with the United States and that administration officials will meet with foreign leaders in coming weeks, citing possible progress with India, South Korea and Japan.
