Alibaba is taking on Amazon’s habitual role as public enemy number one for traditional US retailers, as the Chinese ecommerce group is dragged into a political fight in Washington over its global ambitions.
Bricks-and-mortar retailers, which spent years attacking Amazon for profiting from what they call a sales tax loophole, have turned their fire on Alibaba by warning that the Chinese group will be its next beneficiary.
A new ad from a campaign group whose members include Target, Best Buy, Home Depot and JC Penney tells US lawmakers that Alibaba will "decimate" local retailers unless they pass a bill to prevent online shoppers avoiding sales tax.
(Source: CNBC)