Amazon is basically Temu or AliExpress for people too lazy or too impatient to just get the same shit from the China apps, so they pay a premium to get it shipped to them in an Amazon box.
You can find a lot of the same AliExpress or Temu products on Amazon at X2 or X3 the price.
VAT yes, but import tax no. I buy from Amazon UK, which is outside the EU, and as long as soon as the total creeps over 150 quid, I'm hit with import duties, on top of VAT. I just asked my wife who shops at Temu a lot, and she never had to pay import duties (never even came close to the 150 total).
The fuck? Where did this come from? I doubt it was Trump, considering he is a fan of China. I can't think of any reason Elon would block this, if he's invading the USPS now too.
He's a fan of China, just not right now. A trade war is more important to him. Not to mention Chinese AI just tanked the DOW a short while ago to the point that there's a bill trying to ban downloading DeepSeek R1.