Amazon says it considered listing tariff charges on ultracheap Haul site as White House calls idea ‘hostile’

Amazon on Tuesday said that it has considered listing tariff charges on Amazon Haul, its discount platform meant to compete with low-cost Chinese e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC: “The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products. This was never approved and not going to happen.”

The spokesperson stressed that nothing had been implemented and that the company had not planned to show tariff charges on its main e-commerce portal.

“This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties,” the spokesperson added.

Punchbowl News first reported that Amazon was planning to show how much the Trump administration’s tariffs are adding to the price of each product.

When asked about the Punchbowl report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the idea.

“I just got off the phone with the president about Amazon’s announcement. This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” Leavitt said from the White House briefing room, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The back-and-forth comes as online retailers have become among the first and most visible places where consumers are confronting higher prices due to tariffs. Other online retailers that heavily import from China, such as Temu, have already added steep import charges.

The report — and the White House response — comes as Amazon’s founder and majority owner, Jeff Bezos, has made some inroads in building a relationship with the administration. Bezos was one of the esteemed businessmen present for President Donald Trump’s inauguration, alongside Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, and Amazon’s video platform has licensed a documentary about first lady Melania Trump.

When asked about Trump’s relationship with Bezos, Leavitt said, “Look, I will not speak to the president’s relationships with Jeff Bezos, but I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile action.”