Sheesh. Either Punchbowl News lied (which wouldn’t shock me) or the person who told the outlet lied (which also wouldn’t shock me) or Amazon got caught and retreated.
Amazon told CNN no one approved putting tariff info on any products.
Here’s my original story:
According to Punchbowl News, Amazon plans to put tariff information next to products, explaining how the tax increases prices.
The article is behind a paywall. I subscribe to too much, and I’m not going to subscribe to another outlet.
Amazon quickly released a statement, claiming it only applied to its discount site after the White House slammed the move. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the press:
I will take this since I just got off the phone with the president about Amazon’s announcement.This is a hostile and political act by Amazon. Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years? And I would also add that it’s not a surprise because as Reuters recently wrote that Amazon has partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm.So this is another reason why Americans should buy American. It’s another reason why we are onshoring critical supply chains here at home to shore up our own critical supply chain and boost our own manufacturing here.
The Reuters article appeared in 2021. It stemmed from China demanding that the company not allow reviews and ratings in China after it sold “a collection of President Xi Jinping’s speeches and writings on its Chinese website about two years ago.” A negative review of the book caused the disruption.
In a core element of this strategy, the internal document and interviews show, Amazon partnered with an arm of China’s propaganda apparatus to create a selling portal on the company’s U.S. site, Amazon.com – a project that came to be known as China Books. The venture – which eventually offered more than 90,000 publications for sale – hasn’t generated significant revenue. But the document shows that it was seen by Amazon as crucial to winning support in China as the company grew its Kindle electronic-book device, cloud-computing and e-commerce businesses.The 2018 briefing document spells out the strategic stakes of the China Books project for Jay Carney, the global head of Amazon’s lobbying and public-policy operations, ahead of a trip he took to Beijing. “Kindle has been operating in China in a policy grey area,” the document stated, and noted that Amazon was having difficulty obtaining a license to sell e-books in the country.”The key element to safeguard” against its license problem with the Chinese government “is the Chinabooks project,” the document stated.The document also noted: “Amazon.com/China books project has also gained wide recognition among Chinese regulators.”
Well, as I said, Amazon piped up after the video of Leavitt went viral.
Amazon Haul sells low price items:
Amazon is considering showing a tariff surcharge on items sold via its site for ultra-discount items, the company confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday.The move would affect items sold on Haul, a subsection of Amazon’s site and app that offers apparel, electronics and other goods priced below $20. Haul competes directly with Chinese discount retailers like Temu and Shein, which have surged in popularity in recent years due to their bargain basement prices.“The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”
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