Alibaba is taking on Amazon’s habitual role as public enemy number one for traditional US retailers, after being dragged into a political fight over a tax exemption for online sales.
Bricks-and-mortar retailers – which have spent years attacking Amazon for profiting from what they call a sales tax loophole – have turned their fire on Alibaba by launching a new advertisement warning that the Chinese ecommerce group will be the next beneficiary.
A campaign group whose members include Target, Best Buy, Home Depot and JC Penney have aimed their ad at US lawmakers, claiming that Alibaba will “decimate” local retailers unless a new law can be passed to prevent online shoppers avoiding sales tax.