Amazon does not disclose US customs costs in its online store
The White House reacted with huge criticism that Amazon wanted to show the customs costs of goods. But this was not intended to be implemented at all.
(Image: Nikita Burdenkov/Shutterstock.com)
According to a report by Punchbowl News, the US online retailer Amazon had considered displaying the additional costs resulting from the newly imposed US import duties directly on the products in the store. The White House did not like this at all, as it would make US President Donald Trump's problematic tariff policy clearly visible. Amazon confirmed the considerations, but denied that the plans were to be implemented.
At Amazon, internal deliberations took place to indicate how high the price share of Trump's tariffs is in the total price of a product for individual products in the discount area, the Amazon Haul Store.
Massive reaction from the White House
The White House reacted with a huff: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, according to US tech magazine The Verge, that this was “a hostile and political act by Amazon”. Apparently, Trump fears that the resulting price transparency could cause customers to react negatively towards the government due to the sharp increase in prices caused by the US tariffs imposed.
Specifically, this concerns tariffs on goods imported into the USA, which Trump has levied since the beginning of April. A large proportion of these have now been suspended for 90 days, but import duties for China have been gradually increased further. A rate of 145% currently applies to goods from China. A large proportion of the products on offer in the Amazon store come from China.
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Amazon is now trying to calm the situation. According to Amazon company spokesperson Tim Doyle, the labeling of customs costs was merely an idea that had been discussed internally, but was not to be implemented. “That's not going to happen,” said Doyle.
The matter is likely to worsen the already strained relationship between Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. However, improvements had become apparent before the presidential election in the USA. Bezos had prevented the endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the Washington Post, which is owned by Bezos, in favor of Trump.
(olb)
