Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says consumers are beginning to see higher prices as sellers look to absorb added costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Jassy told CNBC that Amazon and many of its third-party sellers stocked up on inventory ahead of the tariffs to keep prices low, but that most of that supply run out last fall.
“So you start to see some of the tariffs creep into some of the prices, some of the items, and you see some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers in the form of higher prices, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand and some are doing something in between,” Jassy said. “I think you’re starting to see more of that impact.”
Amazon’s comment signals a shift from last year, when Jassy had said prices had not risen after Trump announced the tariffs.
Jassy said on Tuesday that while Amazon is trying to keep prices low, price hikes may be unavoidable in some instances.
“At a certain point, because retail is, as you know, a mid-single digit operating margin business, if people’s costs go up by 10%, there aren’t a lot of places to absorb it,” Jassy said. “You don’t have endless options.”
Despite the tariffs, consumers are “pretty resilient,” Jassy said, noting that some shoppers are shifting to cheaper items and bargain hunting, while others are putting off premium discretionary purchases.
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