Amazon has reversed course on a reported plan to display tariff-related surcharges on its website after former President Donald Trump called company founder Jeff Bezos to complain, raising questions about the influence of billionaire interests and government pressure on corporate transparency.
The controversy began Tuesday morning when Punchbowl News reported that Amazon was preparing to show shoppers how much of a product’s cost was derived from import tariffs. According to the report, “the shopping site will display how much of an item’s cost is derived from tariffs—right next to the product’s total listed price.”
The news quickly drew backlash from the Trump administration. During a White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced the move as politically motivated. “This is another reason why Americans should buy American,” Leavitt said. She called the reported plan “a hostile and political act” and questioned why such transparency was not implemented during the Biden administration. Holding up a printed copy of a 2021 Reuters article, Leavitt reminded reporters of Amazon’s prior compliance with a “Chinese government edict” to stop allowing customer ratings and reviews in China, allegedly prompted by criticism of President Xi Jinping’s published works.
Within hours, Trump personally intervened. CNN, citing two senior White House officials, reported that Trump was notified of the Punchbowl article by one of his aides and then called Bezos directly. “Of course he was pissed,” one official said. “Why should a multibillion-dollar company pass off costs to consumers?”
Speaking to reporters later that day, Trump described the call in glowing terms: “Great. Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly, and he did the right thing, and he’s a good guy.”
Shortly after the White House briefing, Amazon issued a statement denying that any such plan had been implemented or approved. “The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products,” a spokesperson told CNBC. “This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”
An hour later, Amazon followed up to further emphasize that the tariff display idea had never been authorized. “This was never approved and is not going to happen,” spokesperson Tim Doyle told NPR. Bloomberg also received confirmation that the plan was never under consideration for Amazon’s main website.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised the move, posting on social media, “Good move.”
The discussion around Amazon’s short-lived tariff transparency plan comes in the context of Trump’s newly announced import taxes: a sweeping 10% minimum tariff on goods from all nations and a staggering 145% tariff specifically on Chinese imports. While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Sunday that “there is a path” to a tariff deal with Beijing, the dramatic increase has already triggered alarm among global markets and consumer watchdogs, who warn that such tariffs will raise prices for American consumers.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded to the initial report about Amazon by endorsing the idea of tariff transparency. “I urge more companies, particularly national retailers that compete with Amazon, to adopt this practice,” Schumer said from the Senate floor. “If Amazon has the courage to display why prices are going up because of tariffs, so should all of our other national retailers who compete with them. And I am calling on them to do it now.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) took a sharper tone, framing the incident as emblematic of elite collaboration at the expense of public interest. “If anyone ever doubted that Trump, and Musk, and Bezos, and the billionaires are all [on] one team, just look at what happened at Amazon today. Bezos immediately caved and walked back a plan to tell Americans how much Trump’s tariffs are costing them.”
Casar also criticized Bezos’ financial and political ties to Trump, citing Amazon Prime Video’s $40 million deal to license a documentary on First Lady Melania Trump and the company’s $1 million donation to Trump’s 2017 inauguration fund.
The relationship between Bezos and Trump has drawn scrutiny in recent years, particularly as Bezos’s ownership of The Washington Post continues to raise conflict-of-interest concerns. Last year, the paper’s editorial board reportedly reversed a decision to endorse President Biden’s 2024 Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, after Bezos allegedly intervened. As NPR reported at the time, the endorsement had already been approved by the paper’s editorial page editor before being pulled. Bezos reportedly insisted that the opinion page should promote “personal liberties and free markets.”
Amazon, the second-largest U.S. retailer by sales after Walmart, plays a dominant role in shaping the online shopping landscape. The brief but intense episode surrounding its tariff display plans highlights not only the company’s influence, but also the extent to which political pressure and elite networks may determine the kind of economic information made available to consumers.
In defending the administration’s actions, Leavitt reiterated the White House’s broader push for economic nationalism. “It’s another reason why we are onshoring critical supply chains here at home, to shore up our own critical supply chain and boost our own manufacturing here,” she said.
As inflation shows signs of cooling, economic analysts have warned that the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff regime could reverse recent gains. AAA reported that falling gasoline prices contributed to a stabilization of inflation last month, with average regular gas prices nationwide at $3.22. However, import taxes like those announced this week may trigger new consumer price increases, particularly on common goods imported from China.
Still, after Trump’s phone call to Bezos, Amazon quickly distanced itself from even the limited possibility of helping consumers understand the impact of those tariffs on their wallets.
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