White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had discussed the Amazon plan, reported earlier by Punchbowl News, with Trump, and his message about it was: “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon.”
The comments sent Amazon shares down 2.2 percent in pre-market trading.
Trump has imposed a tsunami of tariffs on US trading partners, including China, which has seen tariff costs rise by 145 percent since Trump took office.
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level of 40 years?” Leavitt told reporters at a White House briefing.
While the endpoint of Trump’s tariffs is currently unknown, they are already starting to have an impact on businesses in the United States.
Package delivery giant UPS said on Tuesday it plans to cut 20,000 positions worldwide in 2025 following a significant drop in business for Amazon, its largest customer.
UPS Chief Executive Carol Tome said the firm, which had around 490,000 employees at the end of 2024, is taking the actions to “reconfigure” its operations in reaction to a “changing trade environment”. (Reuters/AFP)
