terça-feira, 29 de abril de 2025

White House Attacks Amazon Over Idea of Showing Tariffs’ Cost

 



White House Attacks Amazon Over Idea of Showing Tariffs’ Cost

 

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, attacked the retail giant over a report that suggested Amazon would highlight tariff-related price increases. Amazon said it was “not going to happen.”

 

Shawn McCreeshKaren Weise

By Shawn McCreesh and Karen Weise

Shawn McCreesh reported from Washington, and Karen Weise from Seattle.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/us/politics/trump-amazon-tariffs-prices.html

April 29, 2025

Updated 1:31 p.m. ET

 

There’s a fresh spat brewing between the White House and Amazon.

 

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, on Tuesday accused the online retail giant of being “hostile and political,” citing a report — disputed by Amazon — from Punchbowl News saying that the company would start displaying the exact cost of tariff-related price increases alongside its products.

 

Displaying the import fees would have made clear to American consumers that they are shouldering the cost of President Trump’s tariff policies rather than China, as he and his top officials have often claimed would be the case.

 

After the report was published, Mr. Trump spoke about it over the phone with Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, according to three people familiar with the exchange.

 

An Amazon spokesman said the company had considered a similar idea, but only on part of its site, Amazon Haul, which competes with Temu, a Chinese retailer. Temu primarily ships directly to consumers and has begun displaying “import charges” to reflect the end of a customs loophole that had exempted low-priced items from tariffs.

 

“Teams discuss ideas all the time,” the spokesman, Ty Rogers, said in a statement. He said it was never under consideration for the main Amazon site, adding: “This was never approved and is not going to happen.”

 

Ms. Leavitt had ripped into the retailer during a press briefing Tuesday morning while standing beside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. She said that she had just been talking on the phone with the president about the report. She also asked aloud in her briefing why Amazon hadn’t done such a thing when prices increased during the Biden administration because of inflation.

 

Ms. Leavitt said it was “not a surprise” coming from Amazon, as she held up a copy of a 2021 article from Reuters with the headline, “Amazon partnered with China propaganda arm.”

 

Mr. Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Chinese goods have touched off an escalating trade war, even as his administration has backed off its broader global levies amid what it said were negotiations with dozens of nations on new trade deals.

 

Ms. Leavitt’s attack on Amazon was all the more noteworthy because Mr. Bezos has lately gone to great lengths to curry favor with this White House. Amazon donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inaugural fund, securing seats for Mr. Bezos and his bride-to-be in the Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration.

 

Shortly before the election, Mr. Bezos quashed an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris for president in the newspaper that he owns, the Washington Post. More recently, Amazon Prime added multiple seasons of “The Apprentice” to its streaming inventory. The company also cut a deal with the Trump family to make a documentary about Melania Trump.

 

In December, Mr. Bezos explained his Trump-ward turn while speaking at The New York Times DealBook conference. “What I’ve seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time,” Mr. Bezos said of Mr. Trump, “more confident, more settled.”

 

He added, “I’m very hopeful. He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation.”

 

Mr. Trump was asked about his relationship with Mr. Bezos in a cover story in The Atlantic magazine published Monday. “He’s 100 percent,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s been great.”

 

But when Ms. Leavitt was asked Tuesday morning whether the Amazon mogul can still be considered a Trump supporter, given the latest report, she demurred.

 

“Look, I will not speak to the president’s relationships with Jeff Bezos,” Ms. Leavitt said, “but I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile and political action by Amazon.”

 

Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration.

 

Karen Weise writes about technology for The Times and is based in Seattle. Her coverage focuses on Amazon and Microsoft, two of the most powerful companies in America.

Sem comentários: