United States President Donald Trump has not had the easiest of weeks so far but amidst all that, he managed to have a go at retail giant Amazon. The president has had a go at Amazon in the past as well and today, he tweeted that the company is 'doing great damage' to retailers who pay their taxes. During his campaign, he had said that Amazon had monopolized the retail industry and had promised anti-trust action against the company.
Fresh salvo
According to a report on Bloomberg, Amazon's clout as a corporation has become a cause for concern among academics and among people who matter in Washington.
Many are under the impression that Amazon along with other tech firms like Facebook and Google have become a bit too powerful for anyone's comfort. There have even been suggestions that the companies should be broken up and Donald Trump's tweet echoes the same sentiments.
The president took to Twitter yesterday and stated that Amazon 'is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost!'. The president has been after the online retail giant for some time and had attacked them from time to time. Yesterday's salvo precipitated a fall in Amazon's stock price as well. It is not the first time that the president's tweets about a specific company caused its shares to fall.
Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017
Campaign promise
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had stated that Amazon had become a monopoly and if he was elected to the White House then he would charge them for anti-trust violations.
During one of his rallies back in February last year, the president said: “Believe me, if I become president, do they have problems. They’re going to have such problems,” So, it can be said that the president is merely trying to carry out his campaign promise and it will be interesting to see if he actually ends up doing anything or not.
After all, a company cannot be sued for enjoying a significant market share.
Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods for $13.4 billion had raised eyebrows and caused a lot of discomfiture among lawmakers as they thought that the company has a history of wiping out the competition. Although there are no anti-trust problems about the deal according to experts, one US lawmaker has proposed hearings in order to ensure that the deal is a fair one for not only the consumers but also the employees. Trump's diatribe against Amazon might also have been prompted by Bezos owned Wahington Post's rather critical coverage of his presidency.
