WH calls, Amazon drops pricing plan

Agencies WASHINGTON

Amazon said on Tuesday its low-cost Haul unit had considered listing import charges for goods in light of new U.S. tariffs but denied looking at such a plan for its main website, after the White House accused it of a hostile political act. The Seattle retailer spent a chaotic morning denying a report from Punchbowl News that it planned to display prices showing tariffs' impact on Amazon.com. It acknowledged it had considered it for certain inexpensive China-made products on Haul but then rejected the idea.

The confusion initially prompted a 2% drop in Amazon shares after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the reported pricing plan "a hostile and political act by Amazon." Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab denied the initial story.

The company said its smaller Haul division, which competes for low-cost buyers with Temu and Shein, had mulled displaying import levies. "The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products. This was never approved and (is) not going to happen," a company spokesperson said, adding that "teams discuss ideas all the time." Amazon shares recovered losses and were up slightly in afternoon trading.

President Donald Trump has imposed a tsunami of tariffs on U.S. trading partners, including China which has seen tariff costs rise by 145% since Trump took office, sending many corporations scrambling. Trump called Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos to complain about the Punchbowl News report, a White House official said.

Under fire, Harvard pledges reforms Washington: Harvard University is promising to review its academic offerings and admissions policies in response to a pair of internal reports on antisemitism and anti-Arab prejudice at the Ivy League campus. Harvard released the reports on Tuesday while the university simultaneously battles the Trump administration over demands to limit campus activism - reforms the government says are necessary to root out campus antisemitism.