Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos “did the right thing” by stopping a plan to show consumers how much US tariffs add to each price tag. Earlier Tuesday, Punchbowl News reported that the e-commerce site would show users how much Trump’s tariffs are hiking the price of products, citing a person familiar with the matter. The report created immediate tension with the White House as it marked its 100 days in office, with the administration eager to defend its high tariff policies against criticism they raise prices for US consumers.
Multiple US media outlets reported that Trump personally called Bezos about the matter. Trump, seeming to confirm this conversation, described Bezos to reporters as “very nice” and “terrific,” adding that the Amazon executive chairman “solved the problem very quickly…and he’s a good guy.” Without fully denying the Punchbowl report, Amazon released a statement saying its low-cost Amazon Haul store had “considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products.” “This was never approved and is not going to happen,” the company statement added.
The issue flew into the open when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt early on Tuesday called the reported plan “a hostile and political act by Amazon.” “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” she added during a briefing in Washington. Also criticizing the plan, top Trump advisor Stephen Miller told Fox News that Amazon customers “complain all the time they can’t see where products are coming from and where they’re made.” “A lot of American consumers want to buy products from America,” he added.
After taking office in January, Trump slapped a 10 percent baseline tariff on most countries, along with higher levies on dozens of countries — only to then pause the elevated rates for 90 days to allow for trade talks. The White House has also imposed steep duties on China, and additional sector-specific measures — leading Beijing to impose its own retaliatory tariffs on US goods.
Trump’s tariffs are already starting to have an impact on businesses in the United States. Package delivery giant UPS said Tuesday it plans to cut 20,000 positions worldwide in 2025 following a significant drop in business from Amazon, its largest customer. UPS Chief Executive Carol Tome said the firm, which had around 490,000 employees at the end of 2024, was reacting to a “changing trade environment.”
© 2024 AFP
