Tariffs Starting to Bump Up Product Prices, Amazon CEO Says

Amazon.com is starting to see an uptick in product prices on its e-commerce platform as sellers respond to cost pressures stemming from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the tech giant’s CEO, Andy Jassy, told CNBC on Tuesday.

The company had pulled forward its inventory shipments early last year and urged third-party sellers to bring in more stock ahead of time to circumvent tariff-driven surges in shipping costs, but “that supply has run out in the fall,” Jassy said in the interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“(We’re starting) to see some of the tariffs creep into some prices. Some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand, and some are doing something in between. So you’re starting to see more of that impact,” Jassy said.

Still, consumers have been largely resilient, with people continuing to shop and looking for bargains, Jassy said, adding that shoppers are a “little bit more hesitant” on higher-priced discretionary purchases.

“Amazon’s consumers overall have fared well. But we’ll have to see what happens in 2026.”

The company has said over the past year that it was seeing very little impact on consumer behavior and product prices from tariffs. It has doubled down on expanding product categories and speeding up delivery timelines to shield demand.

Meanwhile, rising prices and mounting cost-of-living concerns in the US have emerged as key questions for Trump to address ahead of the midterm elections this year.

US tariffs are also a crucial talking point for global leaders in Davos this week.

Amazon’s shares were down 2.7 percent in early trading amid weakness in the broader market.

Separately, speaking at Davos to CNBC, Coca-Cola’s outgoing CEO said the company was “relatively immune to tariffs”. The company is exposed to some higher costs from aluminum and resin, but has said over the past year that tariffs were “manageable” for the company because of its largely localised manufacturing processes.

By Deborah Sophia

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