The news: Amazon was sharply rebuked by the White House following a report that it was considering displaying the cost of tariffs next to the price of products sold on its site.

• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the move “a hostile and political act.”
• The retailer later downplayed the initiative, with a representative saying that while it had contemplated showing the cost of tariffs for items sold on its Haul marketplace, the initiative “was never approved and is not going to happen.”

How we got here: Amazon is hardly the first company to consider radical transparency as tariffs upend retailers’ operating models. Several have floated tariff surcharges as a means of pushing through tariff-related price increases without turning off shoppers, while “tariff emails” that set the stage for future hikes are becoming a staple of brands’ outreach strategies.

As a marketing tool, transparency is particularly effective because it shows customers that companies are not raising prices to pad their profits but are seeking ways to cover costs that would otherwise be untenable.

• For some brands, transparency also functions as a political statement. Sexual wellness brand Dame introduced a “Trump Tariff Surcharge” of $5 on select products in part to cover higher costs, but also as “an expression of frustration,” CEO Alexandra Fine told Bloomberg.
• But for the majority of brands, being open about the effect of tariffs on prices is an opportunity to maintain customer goodwill, even if spending will ultimately be pressured.

Our take: While shoppers expect tariffs to raise prices, how brands communicate those increases matters. Transparency is generally the best policy, though it can be hard to maintain amid considerable uncertainty.

• Companies that use surcharges should make that known to customers in advance, lest they get a nasty case of sticker shock and abandon the purchase altogether—a situation that is souring shoppers on Temu.
• The situation is more complicated for larger companies like Amazon, whose tariff responses are clearly being scrutinized closely by the Trump administration. While more transparent pricing may not be in the cards, retailers can still inform consumers more broadly about potential increases and work with sellers and suppliers to mitigate the tariff impact.

Go further: Listen to our recent podcast episode: “Reimagining Retail: Tariffs Are Here: Consumer Shifts, Surprising Outcomes, and Must-Watch Metrics.”

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