| It was a very strange Tuesday for Amazon. This morning, Punchbowl News reported that the e-commerce giant was planning to display the cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on products adjacent to the listing. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it “a hostile and political act.” But by the afternoon, Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said the plan “was never approved and is not going to happen.” Sometime in between all that, the president personally called Jeff Bezos to complain. So now we’re back to square one. The thing is, it would be really nice for consumers to have transparency in chaotic times like these! And Allison Schrager agrees: “Amazon itself already lists state sales taxes separately at checkout. So why not include a tariff, which is just another form of taxation?” she asks. We deserve to know how much prices are rising and for which products. Thankfully, Andrea Felsted is able shed some light on the subject: But the trade war won’t just cause price hikes. “Even if the tariffs were to be dropped tomorrow, Santa won’t be bringing some items,” she writes. “Expect retail shortages to hit as soon as back-to-school and continue into 2026 — and beyond.” Photos of empty shelves (popular during Covid-19) are about to come back with a vengeance. What’s worse, Jonathan Levin says our wallets might not be able to handle the added financial burden if tariffs persist: “While household and corporate balance sheets remain quite decent, they’re nowhere near as pristine as they were in early 2022. Serious credit card and auto loan delinquency has been rising among consumers, while interest expense has been climbing relative to corporate operating incomes,” he writes. How are Chinese e-commerce giants Temu, Shein and Alibaba weathering the storm? Remarkably well, observes Catherine Thorbecke. “The levies have galvanized them to support each other in unprecedented ways. And Americans have simultaneously shown an unwillingness to let their access to cheap imports go,” she writes. “The efforts, combined with government stimulus programs aimed at boosting consumption, lifted China’s retail sales by 5.9% last month, beating estimates and marking the best pace since December 2023.” Liam Denning sees similar resilience within Beijing’s auto sector: “China makes and buys more EVs than the rest of the world combined. This year, it should become the first major market where sales of cars with a socket overtake those without. China dominates the battery supply chain, not just in quantity but, as the charging wars show, cost and innovation, too.” Without a coherent industrial policy, he says, “the US auto sector risks becoming ever more like an island of (expensive) misfit toys amid a sea of markets ceded to Chinese manufacturers.” As for actual toys in America, those are in short supply, too. Better place your Amazon order now! Let’s say an ex-coworker you never really vibed with randomly asks you out for some drinks. You respond with a polite yet evasive, “that’d be nice,” because you suspect they want to sell you on their new crypto side hustle. But they’re persistent! There’s emails. Texts. Voicemails. Eventually you cave and suggest meeting on May 9, which just so happens to be the evening of your uncle’s annual potluck dinner, which involves jello salad, shots of Malört and a two-hour train ride to New Jersey. Drinks with your former co-worker are the perfect excuse not to attend this year’s festivities. This, my friends, is Manipulation 101. Whether you’ve been the manipulator or the manipulatee (why isn’t this an actual word?), it’s a class which all of us are familiar with. But there is one person who has aced it like no other: Russian President Vladimir Putin. For months — years, even! — people have been calling for a truce between Russia and Ukraine, yet Putin has resisted goodwill at every turn. And now, all of the sudden he declares a unilateral ceasefire from May 8-10?? Of course it’s not what it seems! In a surprise to no one, Moscow just wants some peace and quiet so that it can have a cute little military parade in the Red Square. A PARADE!!!!! The thing is, people don’t pause wars for parades, they pause them for peace, which Russia seems wholly disinterested in achieving, says Marc Champion. “The Kremlin will hope its offer keeps the US engaged and diverts attention from the fact that it has been busy rejecting peace terms. It’s probably right,” he writes. “As a former KGB handler, Putin knows a desperate man when he sees one. Trump’s priority is to declare mission accomplished in Ukraine as soon as possible, and move on.” It’s a shame, since Marc says the US still has plenty of cards it can play against Russia: “There’s room for a deal that still requires painful concessions from Zelenskiy, but also ensures a permanent end to Russia’s invasion and leaves Ukraine secure, sovereign and investable.” Trump just has to out-manipulate the master manipulator. Bonus Peace Treaty Reading: Trump’s desire to exploit Ukraine’s rare earths masks the real problem with critical minerals. — Javier Blas | 
