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Amazon is adding a 'fuel and inflation surcharge'
This past Wednesday, Amazon announced that for the first time in the company’s history, it will be charging sellers a “5% fuel and inflation surcharge.”
According to CNN Business, the new fee is being imposed because “inflation has worsened significantly in recent months.”
In a company-wide memo, Amazon said, “In 2022, we expected to return to normalcy as Covid-19 restrictions around the world eased, but fuel and inflation have presented further challenges.”
“It is unclear if these inflationary costs will go up or down, or how long they will persist,” the company said.
Patrick Graham, a spokesperson for the company, said that the fee surcharge applies only to fee rates paid by sellers that choose to use Amazon’s fulfillment services. These services include the storage, packing, and shipping of products.
Reportedly, sellers who do not use Amazon’s fulfillment services will not be impacted.
Amazon’s fee is the latest example of how businesses are reacting to soaring energy costs and the general increased cost of goods and services due to inflation.
Last month, Lyft — the popular ridesharing service —announced that it was adding a surcharge of 55 cents to each ride given in order to offset the surging price of gasoline.
ABC News reported that all of the money being generated through this surcharge will be given directly back to Lyft’s drivers and that it would remain in place for “at least the next 60 days.”
In mid-March, Uber announced a similar initiative to that of their competitor. Uber announced that it would tack on a 45 to 55 cent surcharge on all of its rides and add a 35 to 45 cent surcharge on all Uber Eats deliveries.
However, drivers said the surcharge reimbursements they would be receiving from their employers weren’t enough.
According to a blog from “The Rideshare Guy,” 43% of Uber and Lyft drivers said they were driving less or quitting their rideshare gigs because of the rising cost of fuel.
These rising costs, and the little relief drivers received, prompted them to organize a protest in front of Uber’s Manhattan headquarters.
The new surcharge Amazon is implementing on its sellers could trickle down and affect consumers as retailers seek to pass along the rising cost of hosting their businesses on Amazon.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that suppliers raised their prices by 11.2% in March as inflation raised 8.5% year-over-year.
In the company-wide memo, Amazon said, “Like many, we have experienced significant cost increases and absorbed them, wherever possible, to reduce the impact on our selling partners. When we did increase fees, we were focused on addressing permanent costs and ensuring our fees were competitive with those of other service providers.”
Ohio Senate candidate Mike Gibbons says middle-class Americans don't pay 'any kind of fair share' of income taxes
Mike Gibbons, who is currently the leading Republican Senate candidate from Ohio, finds himself in hot water for previously saying that the American middle-class doesn't pay "any kind of fair share" of the country's income taxes.
Gibbons, a millionaire investment banker turned politician, made the comments in a September episode of "The Landscape" podcast at a media event in 2021.
Gibbons said, "The top 20% of earners in the United States pay 82% of federal income tax — and, if you do the math, and 45% to 50% don't pay any income tax, you can see the middle class is not really paying any kind of a fair share, depending on how you want to define it."
The Associated Press reported that Gibbons's comments could "take on new resonance" after United States Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) — who leads the Senate Republicans' campaign apparatus — debuted a policy strategy that called to raise taxes on Americans who currently don't earn enough money to pay federal income taxes. The tax hike would increase taxes on millions of Americans.
In the video where Gibbons makes this comment, the candidate is sitting in front of a campaign backdrop and condemns Democrats for spreading an "absolutely false" narrative suggesting that "the middle class is getting screwed and the wealthy, the elite, are cheating everybody."
Ohio GOP Senate candidate Mike Gibbons on a Crain\u2019s Cleveland Business podcast: \n\n\u201cThe top 20% of earners in the U.S. pay 82% of federal income tax \u2014 and, you do the math, and 45% to 50% don\u2019t pay any income tax\u2026 The middle class is not really paying any kind of a fair share.\u201dpic.twitter.com/VUYzPTlqmX— Heartland Signal (@Heartland Signal) 1649459301
Gibbons suggested that the Democrats use this rhetoric because they "need the middle class to win an election."
He also went on to say that he doesn't mind the utilization of a "progressive tax system structure" but went on to say that wealthy Americans already pay a lot in taxes.
Gibbons's comments garnered considerable ire online.
Steve Cortes — a former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump and Newsmax host — lambasted Gibbons as a "gazillionaire who made a fortune doing business with the Chinese Communists."
Nan Whaley — the former Democratic Mayor of Dayton who is currently running in Ohio's Democratic gubernatorial primary — said, "This is exactly why we need to elect more leaders from the middle-class."
Riley Moore — the State Treasurer of West Virginia — said, "Ohio, please don't elect this man. He will continue failed policies that have been destroying the middle class of this great country."
A spokesperson for Gibbons's campaign told TheBlaze that "Mike Gibbons does not support tax increases on any Americans – and never has."
"Mike is a businessman, not a career politician and he understands economics and how to implement smart ideas and strategies that will benefit all Americans," the spokesperson continued. "As a conservative Mike has pledged that he will not raise taxes and will put forth pro-growth, America First policies."
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