An MSN Report
CEO Andy Jassy stated this week that Amazon spending hasn’t seen any signs of consumers tightening their wallets in the face of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Jassy’s comments came during Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting, which was held virtually on Wednesday.
“We have not seen any attenuation of demand at this point,” Jassy said during a question-and-answer portion of the meeting. “We also haven’t yet seen any meaningful average selling price increases.”
Amazon and other retailers continue to digest the impact of Trump’s tariffs. Earlier this month, Amazon pointed to “tariffs and trade policies” as one of several factors that could make its guidance for the current quarter subject to change.
Rival retailer Walmart warned last week that consumers could start seeing price hikes from tariffs later this month and in June. Within days, that sparked the ire of Trump, who urged the company to “EAT THE TARIFFS.”
Target reported this week it will likely need to hike prices on some items, while Home Depot
said it expects to maintain its current pricing levels.
Amazon faces significant exposure to the levies through its retail unit, which sources some goods from tariff-hit China. Jassy said last month the company made some “strategic forward inventory buys” to stock up on goods and is “pretty maniacally focused” on keeping prices low for shoppers.
Some third-party sellers, which account for roughly 60% of products sold, have increased prices on certain items, while others have opted to keep prices steady, Jassy said Wednesday.
“I think that the diversity and the size of our marketplace really helps customers have the best selection of the best prices,” Jassy said.
Before the Q-and-A portion, Amazon investors listened to eight outside proposals addressing the company’s emissions reporting, warehouse working conditions and the climate impact of its data centers, among others.
All of the resolutions, which Amazon recommended investors vote against, were rejected. Vote totals are expected to be released soon after the meeting.
