The tug-of-war between the US political and business sectors over tariff policy has reached a boiling point. The White House’s recent aggressive attack on Amazon’s plan to label tariff-related costs on its platform has exposed a hardline stance on controlling public discourse, with consumers’ right to know becoming collateral damage in the policy battle.
White House’s Tough Warning Triggers Chilling Effect
According to recent US media reports, Amazon originally intended to label the additional costs from Trump’s tariff policies on its platform. However, before this plan could be implemented, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt publicly condemned the move.
On April 29, Punchbowl News first broke the story that Amazon’s shopping site would “soon” display the impact of Trump’s tariffs, labeling the extra costs added to prices next to products for sale.
White House press secretary singles out Amazon for criticism. AP Photo
The news immediately drew fierce backlash from the White House. At a press briefing that morning, Press Secretary Leavitt singled out Amazon, calling the reported plan a “hostile and political act.” She further challenged, “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”
Amazon responded swiftly, clarifying that only its budget e-commerce division, Amazon Haul, had considered the idea of displaying additional costs, but the plan was neither approved nor implemented, and there would be no such move on Amazon’s main shopping site.
AP Photo
After witnessing the White House’s criticism of Amazon, retail giants like Walmart quickly stated they would not disclose cost breakdowns on their product pages.
Rob Lalka, a professor at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, pointed out that this type of pressure is essentially a way to deflect public accountability for policy missteps -- comparing it to the long-standing practice of listing state sales taxes on US store receipts, which is a routine way for businesses to explain price composition to consumers.
Tariff Shockwaves Ripple Through U.S. Retail
According to Business Insider, Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at UK data firm GlobalData, noted that America’s supply chain is highly dependent on global suppliers, so nearly every US retailer is affected by tariffs.
Major US retailers, including Walmart and Target, have already indicated that Trump’s tariffs are forcing them to raise prices.
The South China Morning Post reported on April 29 that after the US sparked a “tariff war” and shipping volumes plummeted, Walmart and other major retailers recently notified some manufacturers in China’s Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to resume shipments.
Walmart has asked Chinese suppliers to resume deliveries, and made it clear that the new tariff costs would be borne by the US side. A major stationery exporter in Ningbo confirmed that their orders now explicitly state “no need to bear additional tariffs,” indicating that price hikes at the retail end are inevitable.
Retailers Seek Survival Strategies Amid Price Hikes
Facing the White House’s demands for information control, retailers are seeking compromise solutions.
GlobalData analyst Saunders predicts that, given the Trump administration’s “extreme sensitivity” to mounting opposition, the government’s targeting of Amazon could spell particular trouble for the US apparel and electronics sectors, and that retailers’ plans to address price hikes may be stymied.
AP Photo
He warns that this “burying one’s head in the sand” approach is unlikely to work. When product prices swing abnormally, consumers will inevitably trace the cause through price comparison sites and industry reports. He noted that Americans are very clear about the potential impact of tariffs.
Chris Walton, co-founder of the retailer-focused media platform Omni Talk Retailer, predicts that if retailers are barred from itemizing tariff-related costs, they may simply let prices “speak for themselves.” “Given what we saw yesterday, I really can’t think of any workaround that wouldn’t catch the potential ire of DC,” he said.
Deep Throat
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Trump's Venezuela play just gave Western progressives a masterclass in American hypocrisy.
Steve Bannon, Trump's longtime strategist, told The New York Times the Venezuela assault—arresting President Nicolás Maduro and all—stands as this administration's most consequential foreign policy move. Meticulously planned, Bannon concedes, but woefully short on ideological groundwork. "The lack of framing of the message on a potential occupation has the base bewildered, if not angry".
Trump's rationale for nabbing Maduro across international borders was drug trafficking. But here's the tell: once Maduro was in custody, Trump stopped talking about Venezuelan cocaine and started obsessing over Venezuelan oil. He's demanding US oil companies march back into Venezuela to seize control of local assets. And that's not all—he wants Venezuela to cough up 50 million barrels of oil.
Trump's Colonial Playbook
On January 6, Trump unveiled his blueprint: Venezuela releases 50 million barrels to the United States. America sells it. Market watchers peg the haul at roughly $2.8 billion.
Trump then gleefully mapped out how the proceeds would flow—only to "American-made products." He posted on social media: "These purchases will include, among other things, American Agricultural Products, and American Made Medicines, Medical Devices, and Equipment to improve Venezuela's Electric Grid and Energy Facilities. In other words, Venezuela is committing to doing business with the United States of America as their principal partner."
Trump's demand for 50 million barrels up front—not a massive volume, granted—betrays a blunt short-term goal. It's the classic imperial playbook: invade a colony, plunder its resources, sail home and parade the spoils before your supporters to justify the whole bloody enterprise. Trump isn't chasing the ideological legitimacy Bannon mentioned. He's after something more primal: material legitimacy. Show me a colonial power that didn't loot minerals or enslave labor from its colonies.
America's Western allies were silent as the grave when faced with such dictatorial swagger. But pivot the camera to Hong Kong, and suddenly they're all righteous indignation.
The British Double Standard
Recently, former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith penned an op-ed in The Times, slamming the British government for doing "nothing but issuing 'strongly worded' statements in the face of Beijing's trampling of the Sino-British Joint Declaration." He's calling on the Labour government to sanction the three designated National Security Law judges who convicted Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai of "collusion with foreign forces"—to prove that "Hong Kong's judiciary has become a farce." Duncan Smith even vowed to raise the matter for debate in the British Parliament.
The Conservatives sound principled enough. But think it through, and it's laughable. The whole world's talking about Maduro right now—nobody's talking about Jimmy Lai anymore.
Maduro appeared in US Federal Court in New York on January 6. The United States has trampled international law and the UN Charter—that's what Duncan Smith would call "American justice becoming a farce." If Duncan Smith's so formidable, why doesn't he demand the British government sanction Trump? Why not sanction the New York Federal Court judges? If he wants to launch a parliamentary debate, why not urgently debate America's crimes in invading Venezuela? Duncan Smith's double standards are chilling.
Silence on Venezuela
After the Venezuela incident, I searched extensively online—even deployed AI—but couldn't find a single comment from former Conservative leader Duncan Smith on America's invasion of Venezuela. Duncan Smith has retreated into his shell.
Duncan Smith is fiercely pro-US. When Trump visited the UK last September amid considerable domestic criticism, the opposition Conservatives didn't just stay quiet—Duncan Smith actively defended him, calling Trump's unprecedented second UK visit critically important: "if the countries that believe in freedom, democracy and the rule of law don’t unite, the totalitarian states… will dominate the world and it will be a terrible world to live in."
The irony cuts deep now. America forcibly seizes another country's oil and minerals—Trump is fundamentally an imperialist dictator. With Duncan Smith's enthusiastic backing, this totalitarian Trump has truly won.
Incidentally, the Conservative Party has completely destroyed itself. The party commanding the highest support in Britain today is the far-right Reform Party. As early as last May, YouGov polling showed Reform Party capturing the highest support at 29%, the governing Labour Party languishing at just 22%, the Liberal Democrats ranking third at 17%, and the Conservatives degraded to fourth place with 16% support.
The gutless Conservative Party members fear offending Trump, while voters flock to the Reform Party instead. The Conservatives' posturing shows they've become petty villains for nothing.
Lo Wing-hung
