Trump administration brands Amazon's tariff transparency plan a 'hostile and political act'

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

A significant rift appears to be opening between the Trump Administration and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, sparking an explosive press briefing earlier today. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described Amazon's purported plans to display the costs of tariffs next to product listings as a "hostile and political act" and accused Amazon / Bezos of partnering with a "Chinese propaganda arm."

The media storm was precipitated during a briefing to mark 100 days of the second Trump presidency when a reporter asked about the above-linked report. Tariffs were already hotly debated, and then the Punchbowl News report asserting that Amazon is preparing to "display tariff costs" up-front in its product listings was highlighted. The source publication only cites someone familiar with the plans, and Amazon hasn't responded to these reports yet. Nevertheless, the knives were quickly unsheathed during the White House presser.

According to CNBC, the question about Amazon's purported plans was rather pointed. An unnamed reporter asked if the government representatives agreed that Amazon's move was a "crystal clear demonstration that it's the American consumer, and not China, who is going to have to pay for these policies."

Leavitt didn't hold back in her criticism of this notion. She stepped up, saying she had just gotten off the phone with the President discussing this matter. "This is a hostile and political act by Amazon," asserted Leavitt, before adding, "This is another reason why Americans should buy American." The press secretary had her own questions, and retorted, "Why didn't Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?"

Is Amazon going where Temu and Shein have already gone?

If this 'tariff transparency' initiative happens, it will mark a sharp change in Amazon's recent Trump appeasement plans. Bezos warmly congratulated Trump on his election victory and donated $1 million to the new President's inauguration fund. Amazon might have thought it was smartly dodging the ire of its customers by shifting the blame for impending price rises to tariffs. Now, instead, it is facing fire from the White House.

Would Amazon be right to follow in Temu and Shein's footsteps in highlighting tariffs as part of product pricing? Perhaps that decision hasn't even been made yet – and the warning shots from the White House could steer Amazon / Bezos to play the plausible deniability card.

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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

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21 Comments Comment from the forums

bit_user

FWIW, Bezos is no longer Amazon's CEO. That seat is currently filled by Andy Jassy. However, Bezos does hold the title of Executive Chairman. I'm not sure exactly what powers that gives him, though I have no doubts about his ability to influence policy at Amazon. I just wouldn't be 100% certain he signed off on this move, before it happened.
Reply
DS426

Why is this article on Tom's Hardware?
Reply
ex_bubblehead

DS426 said:
Why is this article on Tom's Hardware?
Because the editor in charge has made the decision that this is newsworthy. We in the trenches have no control over their content.

And the usual warning applies. No matter how political the headline may be, you are to keep ALL politicaly charged comments out of these forums. Comment ONLY on the non political contents of the article or suffer the consequences.
Reply
jlake3

Without getting into the reasoning for tariffs and whether it’s a good idea or not, tariffs are functionally a tax on imports, and it will have to get paid somewhere. If a company line-items out the tariff fee, now you’re aware how much the tariff is and possibly inclined to seek out lower-tariff or domestic alternatives rather than shrugging and saying “I guess that’s just what the price is”. Also makes it easier for prices to come back down later by just striking the tariff fee, rather than raising the base price and blaming tariffs then not lowering it when/if tariffs go down.

I’m not sure what the benefit of hiding the tariff cost is? Seems counterproductive even from a PR standpoint, because short term people may blame one retailer, but long term they’ll notice widespread increases.
Reply
cknobman

DS426 said:
Why is this article on Tom's Hardware?
Same reason Amazon is going to put tarrifs next to pricing on their website.
Reply
EzzyB

Why is this article on Tom's Hardware?

A significant number of us who read Tom's Hardware buy that hardware from Amazon. Amazon referral links also almost certainly pay a large part of this site's bills.

I find it topical and I would most certainly like to see Amazon implement this. This kind of consumer-focused action is just the kind of thing we need. No matter what side of the political spectrum you live in more information is always a good thing and one should be wary of anyone arguing that less information is better.
Reply
anoldnewb

ex_bubblehead said:
Because the editor in charge has made the decision that this is newsworthy. We in the trenches have no control over their content.

And the usual warning applies. No matter how political the headline may be, you are to keep ALL politicaly charged comments out of these forums. Comment ONLY on the non political contents of the article or suffer the consequences.

This is relevant news because tariffs directly impact the prices of computer technology since so much of what we consume it not produced in the USA. Microeconomic theory predicts increasing the cost of an item through tariffs will result in higher prices unless there are equivalent items available at a lower cost. Amazon is just educating its customers on the magnitude of these tariffs. People should contact their congressional representatives to let them know whether or not they support the tariffs.
Reply
-Fran-

Wow, a rare Amazon W.

I'm confused, but happy about it, LOL.

Let's hope this doesn't get squashed from the person in the photo ops, as it helps people a lot to make more informed purchase decisions.

Regards.
Reply
bit_user

cknobman said:
Same reason Amazon is going to put tarrifs next to pricing on their website.
Huh? I think Amazon just doesn't want to be blamed for the price increases.

I think most companies know better than to play politics, because no matter which side you take, you're going to anger a significant portion of your customers. However happy it makes the rest won't make up for what you stand to lose.
Reply
ohio_buckeye

Wanting to buy an HDMI switch as my TV doesn’t have enough ports. Looks like I’ll be purchasing from someone other than Amazon.
Reply

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Is Amazon going where Temu and Shein have already gone?

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