Credit: CFP
TMTPOST -- The White House has taken a sharp stance against Amazon, with U.S. President Donald Trump personally calling Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday to protest the company's reported plan to display tariff costs alongside product prices on its website.
According to two senior White House officials, Trump placed the call after being informed that Amazon was considering tagging certain items with a note about how much of the price was due to tariffs, CNN reported.
Trump later characterized the exchange positively, telling reporters, "Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly. Good guy."
The pressure follows a report from Punchbowl News that Amazon was weighing whether to reveal how much tariffs contribute to the price of imported goods—potentially giving consumers a clear view of the financial impact of Trump's steep trade duties. Under the Trump administration's second term trade policies, Chinese imports are subject to a 145% tariff, while goods from all other countries face a baseline 10% tariff.
Shortly before Trump made the call, a senior official alerted him to the story. "Of course he was pissed," the official told CNN on condition of anonymity. "Why should a multibillion-dollar company pass off costs to consumers?"
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the proposed move as a "hostile and political act" during Tuesday's press briefing, adding that she had discussed it with the president directly. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed that sentiment in an interview with CNBC, calling Amazon's reported plan "nonsense."
"A 10% tariff is not going to change virtually any price," Lutnick said. "The only price that might change is something we don't make here, like a mango."
In a statement to CNN, an Amazon spokesperson pushed back on the reports, saying the idea "was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties." The spokesperson clarified that the company had internally discussed the possibility of showing import charges on Haul, its budget-focused spin-off site selling items under $20, but the concept was never approved or rolled out.
Still, the controversy has drawn political battle lines. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer encouraged companies to move forward with transparency, saying, "People deserve to know the impact tariffs have on their finances."
Other e-commerce giants, including Shein and Temu, have already adjusted their pricing to reflect tariff costs. Temu now includes a separate import fee at checkout, as both companies rely heavily on Chinese suppliers.
During Tuesday's briefing, Leavitt also pointed to a 2021 Reuters investigation into Amazon's alleged cooperation with a Chinese government-affiliated organization that censored user reviews on Chinese-language versions of the site. She cited it as "another reason why Americans should buy American," and tied the matter to broader White House efforts to bring supply chains back to U.S. soil.
The exchange between Trump and Bezos comes amid a broader thawing of relations between the two. Bezos, once a frequent target of Trump's attacks, has sought to build ties with the administration in its second term, attending White House dinners and congratulating Trump on his re-election. Amazon also contributed $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund and is producing a documentary on First Lady Melania Trump.
In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Trump praised Bezos, saying, "He's 100 percent. He's been great."
Still, Bezos hasn't escaped the financial fallout from Trump's economic policies. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos' net worth has declined by $30 billion so far this year, driven by a broader market downturn and tariff-induced pressure on global trade.
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