Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares fell 1.5% after the company's intention to lay out the costs of tariffs to customers on its website was labelled a "hostile politiccal act" by the White House.
The e-commerce giant issued a statement on Tuesday saying the idea of disclosing import charges on some products "was never approved and not going to happen".
Earlier in the day, President Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Amazon hostile based on reports that the company planned to show how much US tariffs are adding to the price of each product.
The report was from Punchbowl News, citing a person familiar with the plan.
"This is a hostile and political act by Amazon," Leavitt said during a press conference on Tuesday.
"It’s not a surprise, because as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon is partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm."
This seems to be referring to a 2021 report from Reuters that said the e-commerce giant has been told by Beijing to "stop allowing any customer ratings and reviews in China", after a negative review was given on a collection of President Xi Jinping's speeches and writings on its Chinese website. Amazon complied, the report indicated.
** Update: Amazon statement added **