White House blasts Amazon over tariff surcharge – Business News
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Amazon for being a “China-aligned company” after a report indicated that the e-retailer deliberate to position a tariff surcharge label on merchandise — a transfer she referred to as a “hostile, political act.”
“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” Leavitt mentioned at a Tuesday press convention on the White House, based on Fox News. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”
The label, which informs prospects of extra expenses as a result of new US tariffs on Chinese imports, has sparked controversy amid escalating commerce tensions with Beijing.
News of the deliberate label was first reported by Punchbowl News.
Karoline Leavitt holds a information article on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that reads “Amazon partnered with China propaganda arm” during the each day briefing within the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2025. AFP through Getty Images
Leavitt’s remarks come within the wake of President Donald Trump’s April 2 announcement of important tariffs on items from China, a transfer aimed toward addressing long-standing commerce imbalances.
In response, Amazon sellers have elevated costs on quite a few well-liked objects, together with home home equipment, electronics, and clothes.
Nearly 1,000 merchandise bought on Amazon have seen price will increase since mid-April, as US tariffs on Chinese imports ripple via the retail sector.
According to SmartScout, a price evaluation software program firm, the average price leap throughout these objects is close to 30%.
The will increase span a broad vary of shopper items — from cellphone chargers to ladies’s attire — with manufacturers like Anker, a main vendor of cellular charging equipment, raising costs on roughly a quarter of its Amazon-listed merchandise.
Nearly 1,000 merchandise bought on Amazon have seen price will increase since mid-April, as US tariffs on Chinese imports ripple via the retail sector. REUTERS
“It’s one of the first concerted efforts I’ve seen where nothing explains the price hikes other than tariffs,” mentioned SmartScout CEO Scott Needham instructed CBS MoneyWatch.
The dust-up with Amazon comes simply days after Trump praised company founder and former foe Jeff Bezos, saying that the billionaire mogul has been “great.”
In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump described the transformation of once-adversarial relationships with Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg into partnerships grounded in mutual “respect.”
The president credited Bezos and Zuckerberg for adjusting their corporations’ insurance policies in ways in which align along with his administration’s values.
“They’ve been great,” Trump mentioned of the tech moguls.
“It’s just a higher level of respect. I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t know me at the beginning, and they know me now.”
Bezos, the Amazon founder and proprietor of The Washington Post, made headlines simply earlier than the election when he blocked his newspaper’s editorial board from publishing a ready endorsement of Trump’s opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Bezos has additionally applied an overhaul of the Washington Post’s opinion web page which has seen an exodus of left-leaning commentators after the mogul said his desire for touting “personal liberties and free markets.”
Just hours after the change was introduced, Bezos joined Trump for a non-public dinner, signaling a sharp departure from the tensions that outlined their relationship during Trump’s first time period.
