Amazon backs away from plan to display tariff costs as Trump calls Bezos over "hostile" act

A hot potato: Amazon has backed away from a plan to show exactly how much the Trump tariffs will increase the cost of items on its Amazon Haul site. The White House had called the potential move a "hostile and political act," and the president himself called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to discuss the matter.

Amazon said it was considering the idea of listing import charges for certain products sold on its Haul spinoff site, which sells items for under $20, thereby showing customers exactly how much more they would be paying because of the tariffs. The vast majority of the goods on Amazon Haul come from China.

An Amazon source said the end of the de minimis exemption that allows US consumers to receive foreign packages valued under $800 duty-free had sparked the plan.

Trump has implemented a 145% tariff on imports from China and a 10% minimum tax on all other countries, with exemptions for smartphones, computers, semiconductors, and other electronics.

Shein and Temu, which ship items directly from China, have already announced price hikes, with Temu introducing a new import charge that is displayed at checkout.

Not surprisingly, the White House was far from pleased with the plan. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the move "a hostile and political act," asking "Why didn't Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?"

Leavitt also cited a 2021 report by Reuters claiming that Amazon had partnered with a "Chinese propaganda arm" that censored user reviews on its Chinese website. She added that the proposed move was "another reason why Americans should buy American."

CNBC reports that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick repeated the statement, claiming that if a company goes out of its way to "make it seem" like tariffs have caused prices to change, this is a hostile act.

"It's nonsense," he said Tuesday in a CNBC interview. "A 10% tariff is not going to change virtually any price," he added. "The only price change would be a product that we don't make here, like a mango."

A senior official phoned Trump to inform him of the story. "Of course he was pissed," one of the officials told CNN. "Why should a multibillion-dollar company pass off costs to consumers?"

Trump became personally involved, calling Bezos about the situation. "Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific," Trump told reporters. "He solved the problem very quickly. Good guy."

Amazon has stressed that listing the import charges on Haul was never rolled out or approved, and it is not going to happen.

Trump and Bezos had a tense relationship in the past. It was reported that Trump was "obsessed with Amazon" during his first term as president, calling it a "no-tax monopoly." He also repeatedly blasted the Washington Post, which Bezos owns, claiming it was a tax shelter for Amazon that printed fake news.

But the relationship appears to have thawed since then. Amazon donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, and Trump recently said of Bezos, "He's 100 percent. He's been great."