The White House calls the decision ‘hostile’ as the e-commerce company denies any proposal is under consideration.
Amazon may soon show how much tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump will cost consumers who shop on the company’s platform, according to new reporting from the outlet Punchbowl News, citing a person familiar with the plan.
In response to the report on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had discussed the Amazon plan with the president, and his message about it was: “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon.”
The White House also attempted to deflect the blame.
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level of 40 years?” Leavitt asked reporters at a White House briefing.
Inflation hit a 40-year high of more than 9.1 percent in mid-2022 under then-US President Joe Biden. Peaking during the COVID-19 pandemic, the high inflation rate steadily declined over Biden’s final two years in office, reaching 3 percent in January 2025.
The Seattle, Washington-based e-commerce giant Amazon said that it never considered listing tariffs on its main site, but had considered that for Amazon Haul, its ultra-low-cost platform. “The team that runs our ultra-low-cost Amazon Haul store has considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products,” a company spokesperson told the news agency Reuters.
The spokesperson added that the idea “was never approved and not going to happen”.
Trump has imposed a swath of tariffs on US trading partners – including a 145 percent tariff on China, although there are some exceptions for products including smartphones. There is also a 10 percent blanket tariff on other countries.
On Wall Street, Amazon began the day down 2.2 percent in pre-market trading on the heels of the report. As of 11:30am ET (15:30 GMT), the stock was still 0.7 percent below yesterday’s market close.