On Apr 29, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Amazon of supporting China, after the retailer added tariff surcharge labels amid trade tensions.
"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." said Leavitt.
"So this is another reason why Americans should buy American it's another reason why we are on shoring critical supply chains here at home, to shore up our own critical supply chain and boost our own manufacturing here" she added.
Leavitt also presented a news article with the headline "Amazon partnered with China propaganda arm".
The debacle unfolded after Amazon said it would start labeling some products with a notice that they would cost more due to new U.S. tariffs —on Chinese imports—prompting the White House to start tweeting its frustrations with the company.
The announcement comes as tensions between Washington and Beijing have mounted recently and as the White House has sought more broadly to on-shore supply chains and push American manufacturing.
The New York Post reported that approximately one thousand Amazon items had witnessed elevated prices since mid-April as United States taxes on imports from China cascaded through the retail sector.
The average price increase among those categories is approximately 30%, according to SmartScout, a company specializing in price analysis software.
The price adjustments reach into a broad assortment of consumer products like phone chargers and women's fashion, with companies like Anker, a leading maker of mobile charging accessories, increasing prices on about a quarter of its Amazon-listed products.
These macroeconomic pressures tend to have an affect on the broader crypto market. At press time, Bitcoin is trading at $94,768.09, up by 0.04% over a day, as per Kraken .
Amazon's response
Following concerns from the White House, Amazon clarified that it will not display tariff charges on its product pages.
