(NewsNation) — After a report said Amazon was planning to display how much President Donald Trump’s tariffs added to the price of its products, the administration called the move “hostile and political.”
In a statement to the Washington Post, Amazon said the proposal applied only to its ultra-low-cost Amazon Haul store and has not yet been implemented. It said there was never a consideration of listing tariffs on its main site.
Punchbowl first reported that, next to each product’s total price, the retail giant planned to include how much of the item’s cost comes from tariffs.
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“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. “Why did Amazon not do this under Biden?”
While former President Joe Biden did levy tariffs on China, those tariffs targeted specific goods and ranged from 7.5% to 100%. The Biden administration also preserved the de minimis exception that allowed shipments under $800 to enter the United States free of tariffs, a rule that allowed individual consumers and small businesses to avoid extra costs.
The tariffs instituted by Trump apply to all Chinese goods, save for some electronics, and are set at 145%. The administration also announced it would end the de minimis exception starting May 2, so consumers buying individual items from Chinese sellers must also pay tariffs.
When asked Tuesday if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was a Trump supporter, Leavitt declined to answer but repeated that the move was hostile. She also accused Amazon of partnering with a “Chinese propaganda arm.”
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the idea that tariffs would result in added costs to consumers and pivoted to saying that deregulation would lower prices.
The administration has claimed numerous deals are being negotiated that would work on lower tariffs, and Trump has said that China is ready to back down. China has pushed back against that narrative, including Trump’s claims that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him to negotiate.
