The White House lashed out at Amazon on Tuesday after a report that the e-commerce giant plans to display tariff costs on its product listings, condemning the move as politically motivated and done in concert with China.
“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, following the report by PunchBowl News that Amazon was planning to display new added tariff costs.
“It’s not a surprise because, as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon has partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm. So this is another reason why Americans should buy American.”
Leavitt was apparently alluding to a Reuters report in 2021 that Amazon had partnered with a Chinese propaganda group, creating a special portal that removed ratings and comments for Chinese books that were receiving low reviews.
According to e-commerce platform Marketplus Place, China-based companies made up more than 50 per cent of Amazon’s sellers in 2024.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Bloomberg reported that the company denied such plans after the White House criticism.
Leavitt said that US President Donald Trump had discussed the report with her, and had criticised Amazon for not including similar breakouts to account for the “hiked inflations” of the Joe Biden administration.
