Amazon said Tuesday that it considered listing the cost of tariffs for some products on the discount-focused "Haul" version of its website but decided against the idea. The disclosure came after a report revealed that Amazon was planning to publish tariff costs for products on its website, a move the White House criticized as "hostile" — sending Amazon stock lower.
"The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products," Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said in a statement emailed to Investor's Business Daily. "This was never approved and is not going to happen."
Punchbowl News reported early Tuesday that Amazon planned to show how much of an item's costs is derived from tariffs next to its total listed price. Asked about the report at a media briefing this morning, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the reported plan "a hostile and political act" by Amazon.
Amazon launched its Haul discount shopping site late last year. It is designed to compete against the fast-rising Temu. Both websites ship ultracheap goods directly to shoppers in the U.S. from merchants in China. However, President Donald Trump is closing a U.S. trade exemption that has allowed e-commerce platforms like Temu and Haul to ship packages directly to Americans duty-free, so long as they cost less than $800.
Temu has already raised prices in response to the change. It has also started showing U.S. customers an import charge" on product listings.
On the stock market today, Amazon stock closed a fraction lower at 187.39. Shares recovered from losses near 2% in earlier trading Tuesday.
Amazon Stock: Q1 Results Due Thursday
Amazon is due to report first-quarter earnings on Thursday. How the tariffs will hit its e-commerce and cloud-computing business will be a major focus of the report.
Amazon stock is down 15% this year and has lost 5% since President Trump announced his tariff plan on April 2.
