After telling Americans that they would definitely not be paying the Trump tariffs, the White House was not pleased on Tuesday when a news report indicated that retail giant Amazon was going to display the cost of these tariffs right next to the price of its products.
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Here is a real head scratcher coming out of Washington today: After telling Americans for weeks that the Trump tariffs are definitely not going to be borne by consumers but will instead punish companies that manufacture outside of the United States, the White House on Tuesday blasted Amazon after news reports indicated that the retail giant would start displaying how much the tariffs are adding to the price of goods.
Earlier in the day, Punchbowl News reported that Amazon would begin to show the cost of the tariffs right next to the price of its products. This is meant to demonstrate to customers that it is not the company itself that is responsible for steep price increases but rather the penalties that the Trump administration is imposing on imported goods.
That did not sit well with the White House.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the plan a “hostile and political act” by Amazon, which seems a bit odd since one administration official after another, from Donald Trump on down, has praised the tariffs as a massive win for Americans and no big deal for consumers, so how could it possibly be a problem for businesses to highlight them?
The president, for example, indicated on Sunday that the tariffs could lead to a “BONANZA FOR AMERICA” and, perhaps, end income taxes for regular Americans.
“When Tariffs cut in, many people’s Income Taxes will be substantially reduced, maybe even completely eliminated,” Trump stated. “Focus will be on people making less than $200,000 a year.”
It seems as though Americans should then be absolutely delighted to be reminded of the tariffs, and that the Trump administration is responsible for them, whenever possible.
Tuesday’s events tell a different story.
Of course, the benefits that the White House touts are at odds with the findings of actual experts, who have stated that the tariffs will hit lower income families the hardest.
For example, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy calculated that the current tariffs (which are much lower than those Trump initially imposed on virtually all countries) would put an additional burden on the poorest 20 percent of Americans that equals a 6.2 percent tax increase.
For Americans with incomes of up to $94,000, the current tariffs would equal an income tax increase of 5.0 percent, while the richest one percent of Americans will feel the impact the least.
Could it be possible that all of those White House officials are simply lying and making stuff up?
In any case, we won’t find out what Americans think about Amazon’s plan because the retail giant quickly reversed course and said it had no intention of displaying the cost that tariffs add to its products.
Trump and the company’s owner Jeff Bezos, who lived up to his reputation as a spineless weasel, discussed the matter on Tuesday morning, and the president afterwards had nothing but praise for him.
“Great, Jeff Bezos was very nice, he was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly. And, he did the right thing and he’s a good guy,” Trump told reporters.
The president did not explain why it would have been such a bad thing for Amazon to show Americans just how awesome his tariffs really are.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
