The White House took aim at Amazon on Tuesday after the e-commerce giant reportedly prepared to directly display to consumers the price increases associated with President Donald Trump’s tariffs, sending shares of the Jeff Bezos-founded retailer downward.
President Donald Trump, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos (L-R) in 2017.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Key Facts
Citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the plan, Punchbowl News reported Amazon, which relies on China for just more than 50% of its third-party sellers, intends to show how much of a good’s cost on the site comes from tariffs.
In a Tuesday briefing with reporters, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed this as a “hostile and political act by Amazon,” saying she discussed the matter with Trump.
The Seattle-based Amazon did not immediately respond to Forbes’ inquiry regarding the veracity of the report and the White House comment.
Amazon stock declined 2% Tuesday morning, with much of the losses following Leavitt’s jab at the retailer, whose shares declined more than the S&P 500’s less than 0.5% drop.
Crucial Quote
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?,” Leavitt questioned Tuesday. It’s not exactly a one-for-one comparison considering tariffs directly equate to higher import costs, while inflation under President Joe Biden was a confluence of several factors with uneven effects on different classes of goods.
Tangent
Leavitt declined to comment on the “president’s relationship with Jeff Bezos,” the Amazon chairman who dined with Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in December. Bezos was present at Trump’s inauguration, to which Amazon donated $1 million. Forbes estimates Bezos is the second-richest person in the world with a roughly $200 billion net worth, trailing only Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the self-described “first buddy” of Trump.
What To Watch For
Amazon will report earnings for 2025’s first quarter Thursday afternoon. The company brought in $638 billion in revenue last year, trailing only Walmart as the highest company by sales in the world.
