Donald Trump openly attacks Amazon over taxes and business practices

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Donald Trump has hit out at Amazon over its business practices and said that “unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state and local governments”, saying he raised such concerns “long before the [2016] election”.

The web retail giant was “putting many thousands of retailers out of business”, the president said.

It comes a day after reports he had discussed using anti-trust laws to rein in Jeff Bezos‘ company sent share prices plummeting and wiped $30bn (£21bn) off its value.

Mr Trump tweeted: “I have stated 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 U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!”

Asked about reports Mr Trump was considering clamping down on Amazon on Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said there “aren’t any specific policies on the table at this time”, but that the president was “looking to create a level playing field for all businesses”.

It is not the first time Mr Trump has publicly attacked Amazon on Twitter.

Last August, he accused the company of doing “great damage” to smaller retailers, prompting a 1.2 per cent fall in share value. He said then: “Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt – many jobs being lost!”

His war of words with Mr Bezos, the world’s richest man, and his flagship company stretches back to his “Make America Great Again” campaign for president, however.

“Believe me, if I become president, oh do they have problems, they are going to have such problems,” Mr Trump told a rally in 2016.