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Trump to take a 'serious look' at Amazon regulation

US president reiterates threat of action against online retailer giant Amazon

Donald Trump
Donald Trump at a public meeting during the 2016 presidential elections
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US President Donald Trump has reiterated his intention of taking action against online retail giant Amazon, revealing that he is taking a "serious look" at regulations with the intention of addressing what he regards as unfair business advantages enjoyed by the company.

Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on Thursday, President Trump said that he will spend more time exploring ways that his administration can regulate the e-commerce giant.

According to Reuters, Trump has committed to drawing up policies to prevent online retailers like Amazon from growing too powerful.

While traveling to Washington from West Virginia, Trump claimed that the company is not paying its fair share of sales sax and becoming too powerful, so to speak.

Trump was also asked about the kinds of regulations he might be able to introduce. He replied: "We're going to take a very serious look at that."

One unfair advantage that online outlets have over physical bricks-and-mortar stores in the US is sales tax. 

The president said that his government has already spent a significant amount of time investigating the "sales tax situation" and that the topic will be considered by the Supreme Court soon.

On 17 April, nine justices will meet representatives from South Dakota who want the court to overturn a 1992 Supreme Court ruling stating that only physical retail outlets with a presence in a state need to pay sales tax.

Amazon does not actually have links to the case, but it could be affected if the court does overturn its previous ruling in that it would need to pay extra tax.

South Dakota's state government believes that the ruling puts brick-and-mortar retailers at a disadvantage, as they end up paying more tax.

Recently, Trump has been vocal about the growing domination of Amazon and other online companies. His view is that Amazon, in particular, has become too powerful and must be regulated.

"I had my concerns with Amazon long before the election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our postal system as their delivery boy (causing tremendous loss to the US), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!," he tweeted recently. 

 

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