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US: Trump targets Amazon, again

By  |  March 29, 2018

President Trump once again lashed out at Amazon.com, the online retailing giant, on Thursday morning, saying he has long had concerns about the company’s business practices, , reported the Wall Street Journal.

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    Trump has periodically criticized Amazon before and since becoming president. Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, also owns The Washington Post.

    Trump’s latest critique comes after Amazon’s stock took a hit Wednesday following the publication of a report in Axios that Trump was “obsessed” with the retail giant, according to a person interviewed by the publication. Shares fell more than 4 percent on Wednesday and continued their tumble Thursday, falling more than 3.8 percent in morning trading. It’s share price recovered after a White House spokeswoman said that while Trump “has expressed his concerns with Amazon, we have no actions at this time.” By the close of trading, the share price was up 1.1 percent for the day.
    Amazon has grown rapidly since it launched in 1995 as a site that mostly sold books. It has changed the way people buy diapers, TVs and just about anything else. Toys R Us and other retailers that have filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business have said that Amazon’s low prices were hard to compete with. But industry analysts also say that some disappearing retailers were slow to adapt to the shift to online shopping.

    Seattle-based Amazon has fought for years against collecting sales tax, but now collects it in states that have a sales tax. White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said Thursday that some Amazon users don’t pay sales taxes, such as third-party vendors who sell their goods through the site, reported the Wall Street Journal.

    As for the Postal Service, it has lost money for years, but online shopping has led to growth in its package-delivery business. And Amazon signed a deal in 2014 with the post office to deliver packages on Sundays.

    Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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