UPDATE: Amazon responds after White House slams 'hostile and political act' to list tariff costs next to price of goods

Amazon has announced plans to display the added cost of tariffs in prices for goods on their online shopping megaplex. The White House on Tuesday called this a "hostile and political act."

The plan for Amazon, per Punchbowl news, is to show how much of an item's increased cost is due to Trump's tariffs. This amount would be listed next to the total price and would be intended to let consumers know that they are paying the cost of the tariffs, not the nations that are exporting their goods to the US. 

When asked about the potential plan, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she'd already spoken to President Donald Trump about it. "This is a hostile and political act by Amazon," she said.

"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, 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."

This was first reported by Punchbowl, sourcing "a person familiar with the plan." They noted that "Amazon doesn't want to shoulder the blame for the cost of President Donald Trump's trade war."

A Washington Post reporter said that an Amazon spokesperson had denied the report's veracity. "New," Jeff Stein posted on X. "Amazon Spox now saying this was never under consideration for the main Amazon website. Says Amazon Haul has considered listing import price duties on certain products."

He shared the statement from Amazon, which clarifies that the idea of listing the tariff cost is a consideration for one brand of their shopping site, but not another: "The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products. This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties."

The White House questioned the move and considered it "hostile" because nothing like that was ever considered under President Joe Biden. The Biden administration repeatedly said the inflation was just "transitory," despite its lasting impact.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos emerged as a potential ally to the Trump administration and attended Trump's Washington inauguration along with other tech billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. He also donated to the inauguration fund. 

The White House was asked in the briefing if Jeff Bezos "is still a Trump supporter."

"I will not speak to the president's relationship with Jeff Bezos but I will tell you that this is a hostile and political act by Amazon."