Amazon, a global e-commerce company, pays a fine to the U.S. government for violating sanctions against North Korea.
Fox News reported on the 8th that Amazon acknowledged its dealings with North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Syria, and the Crimean Republic. Thus, the e-commerce company decided to pay 134,523 dollars to the U.S. Treasury Department as a fine.
Amazon did not report the products to the U.S. government. Even after shipping items to residents of North Korea, Cuba and Iran or expatriates in the countries concerned.
The number of Amazon transactions, which constitute violations of the U.S. government’s sanctions, is reportedly around hundreds.
Fox News reported that fine on Amazon could have reached $1 billion
Amazon’s fines for violating sanctions are relatively low. Regarding to this, a finance ministry official has explained that the level of sanctions violations is not severe. And that it has revealed the violations on its own.
Reportedly, it was possible to order products from Amazon in countries subject to sanctions such as North Korea because of problems with the Amazon ordering system.
In the case of the Republic of Crimea, if the address is entered as “K” instead of “C,” Amazon did not recognize it as a country subject to sanctions.
Accordingly, Amazon will revise its trading system to automatically classify and block product orders from countries subject to sanctions.
Meanwhile, American retail company, Walmart is reportedly launching a service that will match Amazon Prime. The Walmart+ will allow customer for grocery deliveries in the same day. With only $98 per year, it offers a $21 cheaper price than Amazon Prime service.
On the other hand in Asia, Indonesia is implementing a new tax for digital services including Amazon. Starting from August, the country will require digital services including Google and Amazon etc. to pay the new tax.
