A report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last week found that prices on Amazon’s low-cost essentials had risen since President Trump announced his plans for massive tariffs on international goods. Amazon responded with a lengthy blog post in response to the article, which describes the WSJ’s reporting as “fundamentally flawed.”
WSJ analyzed the prices of 2,500 common Amazon items like cough drops, antibacterial wipes, and chicken broth, determining that the prices of these items increased on average by 5% from Trump’s inauguration on January 20 to July 1.
Amazon accused WSJ of “cherry-picking” data and ignoring other factors surrounding the cost of certain products. According to Amazon, some of WSJ’s findings were inaccurate because items like a Dove deodorant and a pack of Yogi Tea bags were on sale in January, when WSJ retrieved its initial pricing data. Amazon says that the price increase on these items occurred due to the promotion ending, not inflation or tariffs.
Amazon’s pricing is often dynamic, leading to fluctuations, which is why a random sampling across products at a point in time makes sense for an analysis like this. That Amazon felt it had to respond to this report suggests the company is sensitive about the topic and could even fear retaliation from the Trump administration.
Amazon costs aside, customers may observe slight upticks in costs on popular items. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ June report, consumer prices rose 0.3% on the month, or 2.7% on the year.
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