Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor, has raised concerns about the potential impact of new U.S. trade policies on Amazon Inc.’s AMZN global supply chain.
What Happened: In a post on X, Cuban referred to a post by Ryan Petersen about the potential effects of reciprocal tariffs on non-tariff barriers in countries like China and India. Cuban’s question on Amazon points to these policies possibly disrupting the e-commerce giant’s global supply chain which is heavily dependent on China and increases its operational costs by eliminating the $800 de minimis exemption.
This could affect Amazon’s low-margin e-commerce business, which relies heavily on international imports.
In another post, Cuban replies to a user who asks why U.S. trading partners impose tariffs if they are considered bad. The investor explains that he is not against tariffs, he also agrees that they could boost domestic industry, but emphasizes their strategic use. “If you want to use them to offset income taxes, that's a different purpose,” states Cuban.
Cuban, referencing a podcast by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, argues that using tariffs to replace taxes on overtime, social security and tips requires heavy tariffs on many products, which may disproportionately burden those whose taxes aren't reduced, like low-income individuals.
Why It Matters: This is not the first time that Cuban has expressed concerns about trade policies. Previously, he has criticized the Trump administration for causing economic struggles for a majority of Republican supporters due to tariffs. He suggested that the economic pain inflicted on red states could flip voters.
Retaliatory tariffs from countries such as China, Canada, and those in Europe, aimed at pressuring President Donald Trump to reconsider his strategy, have targeted industries employing about 7.75 million people nationwide. Of these jobs, 4.48 million are in counties that supported Trump in the last election, according to a New York Times analysis.
With the new trade policies expected to address trade imbalances by April 2025, Cuban’s concerns highlight the potential challenges that companies like Amazon might face in the near term. However, Amazon’s profit primarily comes from Amazon Web Services, accounting for 74% of its revenue as of 2024. Therefore, while the tariffs may raise operational costs, the financial impact might be mitigated by its cloud computing revenue.
Amazon stock lost nearly 8% over the past month. It closed at $196.21 on Friday, as per Benzinga Pro.
Amazon holds a momentum rating of 71.95% and a growth rating of 5.85%, according to Benzinga’s Proprietary Edge Rankings. The Benzinga Momentum metric measures a stock's relative strength based on its price movement patterns and volatility over multiple timeframes, ranked as a percentile against other stocks. For an in-depth report on more stocks and insights into momentum opportunities, sign up for Benzinga Edge.
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