Amazon clarifies rumors around 'hostile and political act' of showing effects of Trump tariffs

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Amazon is (or indeed was) considering showing the supposed effect of Trump's tariffs on a limited number of budget products that the retailer sells, and the White House has been quick to condemn this potential move.

The controversy was sparked earlier today when a report emerged from the Punchbowl News, which was highlighted on X by its founder, Jake Sherman. It claimed that Amazon is going to display how much of the price of any given item is down to the effect of the tariffs.

However, as CNBC later reported, this is only the case for some of the budget products sold by the retail giant (Amazon Haul merchandise), and it was a move that was only being considered at any rate.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC: "The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products. This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties."

The press secretary for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, described this as a "hostile and political act by Amazon," as CNBC reports, adding: "Why didn't Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?"

It seems that's a reaction to the earlier report from the Punchbowl News, mind, hence no punches (ahem) being pulled - rather than the reality of the situation which Amazon has now clarified.

Although that said, any mention of displaying the effect of tariffs on pricing as a policy for Amazon - even if it was budget goods only - is hardly going to be well-received by the Trump administration.

It also raises a whole raft of uncomfortable questions, such as if such a scheme was ever implemented, how would Amazon accurately know the impact of tariffs on said goods?