Jeff Bezos Nixes Plan To Display Trump Tariff Prices On Amazon Goods After Angry Call From President

Donald Trump had a bone to pick with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos following a report that the retail juggernaut considered displaying the costs of Trump tariffs on its product listings.

Amazon planned to show its viewers the percentage of a product’s price from tariffs, listed next to the item’s total.

Bezos has been cozying up to Trump after his election and even attended his inauguration.

Within hours of the announcement on Tuesday morning, Trump called Bezos and demanded he rescind the initiative. A few hours later, Amazon scaled back the breadth of its plan before announcing that it had scrapped it altogether. 

In damage control for the canceled initiative, an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that the corporation never fully intended to implement the plan.

“The team that runs our ultra-low-cost Amazon Haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products,” the spokesman said. “This was never in consideration for the main Amazon site, and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”

However, many other retailers have adjusted their websites to include the new tariff expense. Popular fast-fashion brands Temu and Shein both recently added staggering surcharges, with Temu now including a line at its checkout tally that shows that the “import charge” is roughly 145% for every item.

The intention is to underline the major economic costs of the policies Trump has implemented in his first 100 days. Since coming into play, the tariffs have caused a drop in Amazon’s business. The 145% tariff on China covers approximately 70% of Amazon’s products. All other countries have a minimum 10% tax.

On Tuesday, following his call with Bezos, Trump told reporters, “Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific…he solved the problem very quickly. Good guy.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged websites to include the tariff prices, saying, “To the large businesses that sell to consumers, I say show your customers how much tariffs are hurting in their pocketbook. People deserve to know the impact tariffs have on their finances.”