Key Takeaways
- Many Chinese online sellers have been forced to raise prices to cover the cost of U.S. import duties.
- Amazon has responded to reports that it planned to label the cost of tariffs on e-commerce listings.
- Following backlash from the White House, Amazon said it had considered the idea for Amazon Haul, but didn’t plan to implement it.
Amazon has distanced itself from reports that it planned to display tariff costs next to products on its e-commerce website.
After the Trump administration called Amazon out over the claims, a spokesperson said the company had “considered the idea,” but only for Amazon Haul.
Amazon Proposal Sparks Backlash From Trump Administration
On Tuesday, April 29, Punchbowl News reported that Amazon planned to display how much of the cost of an item could be attributed to import taxes.
The report caught the attention of Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who called the proposal a “hostile and political act.”
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” she added.
Later in the day, Donald Trump said he had spoken to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos about the report. Bezos “solved the problem very quickly. He did the right thing,” Trump observed.
Tariff Cost Displays Considered for Amazon Haul
Once in the White House’s crosshairs, Amazon retracted its suggestion that it would display tariff costs next to listings.
“The team that runs our ultra-low-cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products,” Amazon said in an update on Tuesday.
However, “this was never approved and is not going to happen,” the statement added.
Online Sellers Hike Prices
While Amazon has said it won’t label tariff costs on e-commerce listings, many sellers have been forced to raise prices as a result of American tariff policy.
An analysis by SmartScout found that since the imposition of additional import duties, the prices of 900 Amazon listings have increased by an average of 29 percent. Among sellers that have raised prices, roughly a quarter are located in China.
Meanwhile, two of Amazon Haul’s biggest competitors in the ultra-budget market, Temu and Shein, recently imposed additional charges of about 145% for U.S. customers to reflect the costs incurred by import duties.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
