White House raps Amazon plan to display tariff charges

White House officials took a shot at Jeff Bezos and Amazon for its "hostile and political act" to inform customers about tariff costs on their purchases, despite the billionaire tech mogul's recent cosying up to US president Donald Trump.

- ARIANA BAIO IN NEW YORK

Yesterday, Punchbowl News reported that Amazon decided to display the amount of money the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policy will add to the price of some of its products on its website, a claim that Amazon denies.

But the reported news angered the White House, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt attacking the e-commerce giant’s reported move. “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” Ms Leavitt said. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”

Shortly after the press briefing, CNN reported that the president called Mr Bezos to complain about the move. “Of course he was pissed,” one official told CNN. “Why should a multibillion-dollar company pass off costs to consumers?”