The White House went after Amazon on Tuesday in response to a report that the retail giant planned to add a tariff price sticker next to the price of items on its website — a change Amazon later denied was ever in the works.
“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years? I would also add that it’s not a surprise, because, as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon has partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm.”
Punchbowl News reported Tuesday morning that Amazon would display the tariff cost front and center for customers.
Soon after, a spokesperson for Amazon told multiple outlets that there was never a plan to do so on its main website, although a change had been considered for its discount branch, Amazon Haul.
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“The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products,” Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said in a statement. “This was never approved and is not going to happen.”
The report on Amazon’s plan to display the tariff cost front and center for customers comes as President Donald Trump’s trade war stretches into its third month and retailers sound the alarm foretelling potential ill effects — higher prices and shortages.
The White House declined to comment on whether Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos was still a supporter of Trump’s. Bezos and other tech billionaires have been familiar faces in Trump’s second term — but the economic downturn is costing them. Bezos’ net worth has reportedly fallen by $36 billion since Inauguration Day as Amazon stock declinese.
“He’s a good guy. I’ve gotten to know him over the last couple of years and he’s done a fantastic job,” Trump said of Bezos on Tuesday after Amazon said it had no plan to display tariff costs. “So I appreciated what he did.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he does not predict supply chain issues.
“I wouldn’t think that we would have supply chain shocks, and I think retailers they have managed their inventory in front of this,” he said at the press conference. “I speak to dozens of companies — sometimes daily, definitely weekly. They know that President Trump is committed to fair trade and have planned accordingly.”
The White House offered no indication that the trade war between the United States and China will abate anytime soon — though the treasury secretary maintained that the situation is “unsustainable” for China. Bessent dodged questions about communication between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The White House recently alluded to a call between the two leaders, and on Sunday, Bessent told ABC that he wasn’t sure if the two had spoken. Today, he declined to get into specifics.
“Karoline and I have a lot of jobs around the White House. Running the switchboard isn’t one of them,” he said.
The White House has placed 145% tariffs on China, and in return, China has placed a 125% tariff on U.S. goods. The two leaders have not spoken — according to official records — since Jan. 17.
Bessent said that trade deals with some other Asian countries — South Korea, Japan, and especially India — are moving in the right direction, in response to a question from NOTUS. The White House said it will be in conversation with 17 of the 18 countries it has “ important trading relationships with” over the next few weeks.
This story has been updated with a comment from Amazon and the president.
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Violet Jira is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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