Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is finally admitting that the trade war is starting to hit your wallet. On Tuesday, he said that President Donald Trump’s massive tariffs are beginning to show up in the prices of some items on the site.
For months, Amazon and its millions of third-party sellers tried to get ahead of the game. They bought extra inventory early to avoid the added taxes and keep things cheap for shoppers. But that cushion is starting to disappear. Jassy explained that the “creep” into prices is now happening. Sellers are forced to make a tough choice: some are raising their prices to cover the new costs, others are eating the loss to keep customers happy, and many are trying something in between.
This is a big shift from last year. Back then, Jassy said the company hadn’t seen prices move much. But the reality of the math is hard to ignore. Jassy pointed out that the retail business usually works on very thin profit margins. If a seller’s costs jump by 10%, they don’t have enough extra money to absorb that kind of blow. “You don’t have endless options,” he warned.
Shoppers are already changing their habits. While people are still spending money, Amazon is seeing them get much more cautious. Instead of just clicking “buy,” people are hunting for bargains or switching to cheaper brands. Many are also holding off on buying expensive items they don’t strictly need.
Amazon says it is doing what it can to keep prices as low as possible, but Jassy made it clear that some hikes are now unavoidable. As the early, cheaper inventory runs out, the full weight of the tariffs will likely land right on the checkout button.
