Amazon just committed a "hostile and political act", and even "partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm." 😂
What happened?
Amazon hinted at showing price hikes on its low-cost Haul platform due to new tariffs.
Fair enough, Temu is doing the same in the U.S., displaying tariff-driven surcharges at checkout.
I guess you do what you gotta do to compete.
But in reality nothing happened.
Trump already spoke with Bezos and declared:
“Jeff Bezos was very nice, he was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly. He’s a good guy.”
But just before that, Bezos was portrayed on live TV as some kind of a criminal, scheming against America in partnership with an enemy! not very nice 😅.
Power games aside, one thing’s clear:
E-commerce is seriously bracing for the trade war.
▸ UPS it’s cutting 20,000 jobs and shuttering 70 buildings, in preparation to halve Amazon shipments.
▸ Amazon itself is putting more pressure on suppliers to lock in larger discounts and protect margins.
▸ On May 2nd, the "de minimis loophole" will close and we'll see huge effects of the business of Temu and Shein. They're already pulling out from Google Ads.
Meanwhile, is this an opportunity for more premium and/or European brands?
