Taking Advantage of Tariffs: Amazon Quietly Raises Prices on Low-Cost Essentials

WSJ Reports
"Prices of 1,200 Products Rise by 5.2% After Trump's Inauguration"

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 21st (local time) that Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce company, raised prices by more than 5% on average for over 1,200 low-cost daily necessities amid a global tariff war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump following his second inauguration.

AP Yonhap News

On this day, WSJ cited data from e-commerce analytics firm Traject Data, which found that among approximately 2,500 low-cost daily necessities sold by Amazon, prices for about 1,200 items?including deodorant, protein shakes, and pet supplies?increased by an average of 5.2%. The survey period was from January 20, the day of President Trump's second inauguration, to July 1.

In contrast, competitor Walmart lowered prices for the same items by an average of 2% during the same period, while Target limited its price increases to a slight rise.

For example, the price of DayGlow's metal basket, which is imported from China and other countries, rose dramatically on Amazon from $9.31 at the end of January to $19.99 in early July, a 114.7% increase. However, the same product at Walmart dropped from $17.93 to $6.77, a decrease of 62.2%.

In this context, some analysts suggest that Amazon raised prices on low-cost products with a high import dependency in response to President Trump's tariff policies. Since early April, President Trump has imposed a basic tariff of 10% globally. For China, a combined tariff rate of 30% is applied, consisting of a 10% basic tariff and a 20% fentanyl tariff. Previously, Amazon considered listing tariff costs separately for low-cost products due to the tariff burden, but scrapped the plan entirely after President Trump personally called founder Jeff Bezos to protest.

However, WSJ reported that for some of the products that Amazon raised prices on, the manufacturers had not increased their wholesale prices. Even U.S.-made products, which are less affected by tariffs, saw price increases.

Regarding this, Amazon stated that the products surveyed by WSJ do not represent the overall pricing of its offerings, adding, "The greatest value we aim to provide our customers is not relative price changes, but our commitment to always offering low prices."