It was not practical from the get-go, because showing how tariffs are affecting the consumer price requires to expose the supplier cost to buyers and I find it hard to believe sellers (or Amazon itself) would want that.
Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
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Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#22[flagged]
Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
To me, this calls into question to what degree Amazon will willfully comply with government requests that come in via phone call and not a warrant. From the Amazon shopping side, you can build quite a profile on someone based on their past order history. Want to find protesters? There’s been a number of folks who don’t usually order office supplies suddenly ordering the thick Sharpie markers in a certain area... Hope…
Another request I suddenly worry about is "what books has this person purchased or read on their kindle" - or - Who has read books critical of the Trump Regime in the past x months?
Ironically there are protections for this, and much of what we call "Hacker Culture" is built around the ideas; but they only apply to librarians and libraries in the US; https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#24The executive really shouldn't be interfering with private companies in this way. This is Amazon bowing to fears of retaliation. For what, giving customers true information?
Apparently Amazon didn't get the memo on Jan 20th that all decisions must begin and end with "How will this affect the Emperor's image?" It used to be limited to the state run channel Fox News. Even they would screw up once and a while. Depending on the severity, they'd either be dragged on X or receive an unhappy on-air call from the Palace in Mar-a-largo.
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Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#25Whenever I visit the US I get annoyed that the prices listed on the store shelves aren't actually what I pay; in Europe all prices are VAT-inclusive, but in the US none of the prices include sales tax, they're all broken out separately at checkout. I found this unreasonable and confusing until one day I read a conservative argument that this is actually a good thing, because it stops the government from increasing sa…
i hated it at first, but then started to appreciate how it gives visibility on the cost of senator salaries and the military.
Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#26There is no regulation or legislation that is telling Amazon they can/can't or should/shouldn't post this information. Amazon appears to be responding to the wishes of the President out of fealty or fear. The threat of a negative response by the President is enough to change the behavior of the company.
Let’s not also forget that Apple and Google are currently illegally distributing the TikTok app in their platforms. Despite a law passed by Congress and upheld by the supreme court that this shouldn’t be happening. But I guess the president, with no legal basis, gets to just order an extension and pinky promise not to enforce it. This is the new crazy dynamic between the administration and tech companies.
Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#27The executive really shouldn't be interfering with private companies in this way. This is Amazon bowing to fears of retaliation. For what, giving customers true information?
The executive really shouldn't be referring to their emergency orders as laws or be suggesting that those orders supersede the US Constitution or laws passed by the legislature and enforced by the courts but that's not where we are.
Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#28Whenever I visit the US I get annoyed that the prices listed on the store shelves aren't actually what I pay; in Europe all prices are VAT-inclusive, but in the US none of the prices include sales tax, they're all broken out separately at checkout. I found this unreasonable and confusing until one day I read a conservative argument that this is actually a good thing, because it stops the government from increasing sa…
> found this unreasonable and confusing until one day I read a conservative argument that this is actually a good thing, because it stops the government from increasing sales tax too much. It constantly reminds residents of how much extra they're paying for sales tax and encourages voting for politicians who will reduce sales tax if it's too high. Okay, it's a reasonable argument, I wasn't super against it anymore
It's not really reasonable. Like, at all.
You can know how much sales tax/VAT is without having to do math every time you pay a bill. For one thing, receipts can and AFAIK always include VAT separately in the EU, with a line for each VAT amount if different (e.g. in France food and alcohol are under different VAT rates, so on the receipt it says you paid X in VAT, of which Y was under 20% for alcohol, Z under 5.5% for food).
You retain the same "power" while being more informed and you're spared quick mental math every time you pay.
Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#29Whenever I visit the US I get annoyed that the prices listed on the store shelves aren't actually what I pay; in Europe all prices are VAT-inclusive, but in the US none of the prices include sales tax, they're all broken out separately at checkout. I found this unreasonable and confusing until one day I read a conservative argument that this is actually a good thing, because it stops the government from increasing sa…
> found this unreasonable and confusing until one day I read a conservative argument that this is actually a good thing, because it stops the government from increasing sales tax too much. It constantly reminds residents of how much extra they're paying for sales tax and encourages voting for politicians who will reduce sales tax if it's too high. Okay, it's a reasonable argument, I wasn't super against it anymore It…
It's psychology. Just like withholding taxes on salaries before they are paid.
Re: Amazon Rules Out Displaying Tariff Impact After White House Attack
#30I wonder what the range of possible deals to be struck between Amazon and Trump includes, and/or whether this is the start of one.
Though I agree with the prevailing notion that the simplest explanation would seem to be a mere concession to the Trump admin.