Well, good news doesn't last long; Bezos has already bent the knee (again) and Amazon backed off their plans to show the true and transparent cost of the Trump Tariffs.
If Amazon (or any retailer) were to break out the true cost of the Trump Tariff, it would expose the lie of the alternate reality that tariffs are paid by foreign companies or countries. They are paid by the importer, and the costs are (usually immediately) passed along to the consumer. An importer MIGHT decide to absorb the cost as the cost of doing business, but like the exorbitant and fickle Trump Tariffs themselves, that isn't sustainable.
Tariffs are a tax on the consumer. We will pay the bill for anything we buy in Donald's "big beautiful store," which is how he referred to the US in his latest Time Magazine interview. If America (or the western world) has a "big beautiful store," I am pretty sure that store is called Amazon. As the actual "owner" of that big, beautiful store, Jeff Bezos has the power to immediately dispel the LIE that tariffs are anything other than a burden carried by all of us (the consumer in whatever nation they reside or shop).
Donald doesn't know how tariffs work, and I am not sure that he understands the difference between a tariff and an embargo. Then again, at 145% or anything near that, there is no difference anymore. Nobody will bother to import their goods as nobody will be able to afford them anymore.
How is this bringing down the price of "groceries" or anything else, Donald? You didn't lie to us, did you?
Regardless of your thoughts on Tariffs, Trade Policy, or on Amazon as a company, can we at least agree that they are the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to retail? I hate them but have packages delivered daily because I hate all the other stores just as much, and this one delivers fast and cheap.
If you want to reach hearts and minds in the land of the consumer and the home of the blasé, the easiest way is through their pocketbook.
Red Hat or Blue shirt, I think that we can all agree that "stocked shelves" and affordable prices are a desirable thing.
If the true believers suddenly see a separate line item for the tariffs, they might begin to understand that their dear leader has been lying to them and might actually stop and think about how they feel about living in a democracy. Hopefully, they like democracy as much as they pretend to love 'merica and will join the fight against authoritarianism and stop this despot ASAP.
Once we save our democracy we can retreat back into tribalism if need be, or perhaps use this flirtation with a dictatorship as a "teachable moment."
Perhaps the parties are (finally) fractured and we move away from a 2 party system that forces a binary choice upon us. Then again, we are 'Mericans and as long as we can get our stuff delivered fast and cheap we are good little consumers and remain blasé and willfully blind to the fact that the emperor has no clothes.
//end rant//
Thank you for your attention.
Here is a link to the AP article detailing the events.
https://apnews.com/article/amazon-tariff-prices-trump-white-house-8598569632263872a6c04f7ef330c0fd