Amazon sellers raise prices amid Trump’s renewed China tariffs

Amazon sellers are raising prices of top-selling items in a bid to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s trade policies. E-commerce software company SmartScout tracked 930 products on Amazon that have seen increased prices since April 9, with an average jump of 29%.

Trump issued import duties of 145% for goods imported from China and acknowledged on Wednesday his administration was “actively” talking with China about a potential deal to lower tariffs. Spokesperson to China’s Ministry of Commerce, He Yodang, dismissed the President’s claims that U.S.-China tariff negotiations were taking place.

Amazon sellers hike prices amid Trump’s trade war

Amazon revealed that its merchants are raising the prices of top-selling items as they combat the higher import costs caused by Trump’s levies. SmartScout e-commerce firm tracked 930 products on Amazon, which have seen hiked prices at an average increase of 29% since April 9.

The e-commerce company also noted that price hikes affected a range of categories, including clothing, jewelry, household items, office supplies, electronics, and toys. Amazon revealed that the trade war with China has threatened sellers on its third-party marketplace, which accounts for about 60% of the firm’s online sales. The company noted that many merchants are based in China or rely on the world’s second-largest economy to source and assemble their products.

Amazon acknowledged that its sellers are now faced with the dilemma of raising prices or taking the extra costs associated with Trump’s new tariffs. The company’s CEO, Andy Jassy, said that the firm was “going to try and do everything we can” to keep prices low for shoppers, including renegotiating terms with some of its suppliers. Jassy also added that some third-party sellers will “need to pass that cost” of tariffs on to consumers.

The company’s stock prices have plummeted by 15% so far this year, and it will also report first-quarter earnings next week.

SmartScout CEO Scott Needham noted that roughly 25% of the price increases it observed were initiated by China-based sellers. He also highlighted that last week, stainless steel jewelry maker Ursteel hiked prices on four of its dresses by $6.50. Needham added that clothing brand Chouyatou also raised the price of some of its dresses by $2.

The e-commerce firm also noted that Chinese electronics brand Anker, which is one of Amazon’s largest sellers, has hiked prices on one-fifth of its products sold in the U.S. The company said that Anker raised prices on a portable power bank from $110 to $135.

Amazon refrains from penalizing merchants for raising prices

Some Amazon sellers recently received penalties on their listings from Amazon after increasing their prices to offset added costs from President Trump’s tariff war. The penalties include Amazon removing the “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” buttons on merchants’ product pages, which sellers use to make purchases. 

Amazon’s spokesperson Jessica Martin maintained that the company’s pricing policies haven’t changed, nor has the way it determines how products become eligible for the Buy Box, now known as the Featured Offer. The penalties were lifted a week and a half after Jassy argued that he thought Amazon sellers would try to “pass that cost on” to customers and that he would understand if they did so.

“Sellers set their own prices, and we regularly monitor how we highlight great prices as Featured Offers to provide customers with low prices across a wide selection.”

~ Jessica Martin, Amazon’s Spokesperson.

Some of the top sellers told Fortune that the company had reversed this week and was now letting them raise prices, without penalty, by as much as 25%. The companies affected complained that the penalty was unfair because, without raising prices, they could face significant financial setbacks. 

A CEO of a home furnishing brand that sells $50 million to $100 million of products online on Amazon said, “We got almost all of our Buy Boxes back. The home furnishing CEO, who requested anonymity, said that the Buy Box returned on Monday for most of its items.

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