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(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump's tariffs haven't sparked a large ostentation spike yet, but Amazon has reportedly raised prices connected hundreds of mundane items implicit the past respective months.
On average, prices crossed a scope of low-cost items, including deodorant and macromolecule shakes, accrued 5.2% connected Amazon from Jan. 20 to July 1, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of pricing information from e-commerce steadfast Traject Data.
The Journal analyzed astir 2,500 items and recovered that portion Amazon’s prices roseate connected 1,200 of its cheapest household goods, rival Walmart lowered prices connected those aforesaid items by astir 2%.
An Amazon spokesperson pushed backmost connected the findings successful an email to NewsNation, accusing the Journal of "cherry picking" 2,500 items retired of the "hundreds of millions" it sells.
"This communicative is mendacious and misleading," the institution spokesperson said successful a statement. "We person not seen the mean prices of products offered successful our store alteration up oregon down appreciably extracurricular of emblematic fluctuations crossed millions of items connected Amazon."
According to the Journal's analysis, a tin of Campbell’s New England Clam Chowder outgo $1.98 connected Amazon successful January but roseate 30% to $2.58 by July.
Meanwhile, a stackable metallic handbasket from Ohio-based Dayglow was selling for $9.31 earlier mid-February, but arsenic of July 1, Amazon had raised the terms to $19.99. Dayglow's CEO told the WSJ the institution hasn't changed the prices it charges Amazon contempt paying much for its imported goods.
In a precocious June interview, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC's Jim Cramer that the institution hadn’t seen important terms increases owed to tariffs, acknowledgment successful portion to "a batch of guardant buying" up of the levies.
The Journal recovered that the mean terms of the much costly products analyzed — defined arsenic the apical 50% of items by terms — has fallen astir 2% connected Amazon since January. Still, that's a smaller driblet than comparable items connected Walmart and Target's sites, WSJ's study shows.
Amazon's prices tin fluctuate for galore reasons and are often driven by analyzable algorithms that relationship for seasonality, request and rival pricing. In its connection to NewsNation, Amazon noted that galore of the products analyzed were much often retired of banal connected competitors’ websites.
Economists person warned that Trump's tariffs are apt to thrust up user prices and lend to inflation, but truthful far, the effect has been muted. Part of that is due to the fact that Trump has paused immoderate of his harshest levies — a reprieve that's set to end Aug. 1. Another origin could beryllium that not capable clip has passed for the afloat interaction to materialize.
In June, user prices accelerated 2.7% from a twelvemonth earlier, the highest yearly summation since February, according to the Consumer Price Index, though inactive good beneath the 8% levels successful 2022.
The Journal's investigation recovered that imported goods and products with mixed origins — domestically assembled with imported components—faced adjacent steeper hikes connected Amazon compared to domestically-made goods.
Last month, a separate Reuters analysis recovered that prices for Chinese-made goods sold connected Amazon person been rising faster than wide inflation, a motion that tariffs are starting to filter done to American consumers.
