On the 29th (local time), Caroline Levitt, the White House spokesperson, criticized Amazon’s policy of indicating tariff increases during a briefing held at the White House in Washington, D.C. She held up a photo of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. According to reports, Amazon, a U.S. company, considered marking the additional amounts added to the prices of some products as tariffs but halted this due to a strong protest from the White House. It is said that U.S. President Donald Trump directly called Jeff Bezos to warn him.
In a statement on the 29th (local time), Amazon mentioned that a team operating the “Amazon Haul” store considered the idea of indicating import costs on certain products. However, this was never a consideration for the main Amazon site, and it was never implemented on any of Amazon’s platforms. Amazon emphasized that the reviewed idea was not approved and “will not be realized in the future.”
Earlier, U.S. media outlet Punchbowl News reported that Amazon would start displaying costs arising from tariffs next to product prices, aiming to highlight that price increases resulting from the Trump administration’s tariff war were unrelated to Amazon’s pricing decisions. It was also seen as an intent to inform consumers of the specific figures due to increased product prices from tariffs. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Amazon considered such a measure because the tariff exemption policy for small Chinese parcels would change starting May 2.
The White House reacted strongly. Caroline Levitt criticized Amazon’s actions as “hostile and political” during a media briefing, questioning why Amazon did not take such measures when the previous Biden administration recorded the highest inflation in 40 years.
She held a printed copy of a December 2021 Reuters article, claiming that Amazon collaborated with Chinese propaganda agencies, and stated that Amazon’s decision to indicate tariffs was “not surprising.” The article mentioned that Amazon censored user reviews of a book containing speeches and writings of Chinese President Xi Jinping on its Chinese website.
Media outlets like CNN reported that Trump was furious and directly questioned Bezos over the phone about the reports. A senior White House official told CNN, “Of course, he (President Trump) was angry” and asked, “Why should a company valued at billions of dollars pass costs onto consumers?”
Later that afternoon, President Trump told reporters, “Jeff Bezos was really kind. He was really great,” adding, “He resolved the issue very quickly and did the right thing. He’s a good person.”