Ex-Trump Economic Advisor Backs Amazon’s Abandoned Tariff Label Plan: ‘Why Not?’

Former White House economic advisor and longtime supporter Stephen Moore argued he backed Amazon’s abandoned plan to label tariff-impacted prices on its website, a move that the White House called “hostile” and prompted a furious President Donald Trump to contact company founder Jeff Bezos.

Amazon denied reports that it planned to display tariff-related price hikes on product listings, following sharp criticism Tuesday from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called the reported move a “hostile and political act.” An Amazon spokesperson later admitted the idea was floated internally for its budget-friendly Haul store but the company insists it was never approved and “is not going to happen.”

The news came in anticipation that Trump’s sweeping 145% tariffs on Chinese imports could severely impact Amazon, as around 60% of its sales come from small third-party sellers who rely on overseas goods.

Appearing on CNN’s NewsNight on Tuesday, Moore, author of The Trump Economic Miracle but who has openly criticized the administration’s tariffs strategy as “misguided,” said he backed the idea of highlighting to consumers which products were costing more as a result of the policy and by how much.

On this issue, this is an interesting Amazon issue because, you know, prices went up a lot when Joe Biden was president. I mean, average things cost 25% more. When he left office than when he did. And we didn’t have a lot of, you know, complaints when those prices went up. Now Amazon is being criticized for this.

I actually do believe that taxes should be – I’m sort of on Amazon’s side on this. A tariff is a tax. And why not put that price on. Taxes should be posted.

Watch above via CNN.