Consumers helped pay for tariffs. Will they get refunds?

Anne Robinson hasn’t gotten any tariff money back since applying two weeks ago. The refund will probably take a few months.

“Nothing’s happened,” said Robinson, who owns Scottish Gourmet USA, a specialty grocery in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Still a valid claim, hasn’t been rejected. I checked again this morning.”

While she waits, she’s been thinking about what she’s going to do with the $30,000 refund. Some of it might go to her employees, who haven’t gotten raises in over a year. Some might be used to stock up on inventory. And the rest might go to customers who’ve spent big on tariff-impacted goods.

“Like there was a man who bought 100 boxes of shortbread. That would be a $50 gift certificate, so that’s a significant chunk of change,” Robinson said. People who spent less, maybe paid a couple bucks in price increases, will get a discount code.

Applications are open for businesses to start applying for $166 billion in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court ruled some of the Trump administration’s tariffs illegal. Tariffs are taxes often and ultimately paid by the American consumer. But it’ll be up to business owners to decide what they’re going to do with the refunds. Some are thinking about sharing it with their customers.

“It’s not about lining my pocket as much as it’s about building that relationship with that customer who’s going to be with me for the rest of their life,” Robinson said.

But there’s something else on her mind.

“I’m also scared of plaintiff lawsuits,” she said.

Consumers have filed class action lawsuits against companies, including Costco, Nintendo and Temu. The argument is businesses shouldn’t profit from tariff refunds. Legal experts say these cases are going to be tough for plaintiffs to win.

“In class actions you have to be able to prove how the harm can be quantified across the class in a similar fashion,” said Christine Bartholomew, a law professor at the University at Buffalo.

The tariffs impacted imports from so many countries and had so many different rates — rates that constantly changed. That makes it harder to draw a straight line from tax increases to price increases.

“If you have to do a product by product report that’s a tremendously expensive undertaking,” Bartholomew said.

These kinds of trials can be tedious. Imagine modeling the input costs of every item a company sells, from dish soap to diapers, for a jury. And that process reveals a lot about how companies price their products, something they really do not want people to know.

It’s why Bartholomew thinks a lot of these cases will be settled, a process that can take as long as a decade. It means in the year 2036, consumers might get a postcard or email saying they’re entitled to collect a refund on a set of sheets they bought more than 10 years ago.

“It might simply be that they get a credit for a dollar and they would have to spend 51 cents in a stamp to be able to get their dollar,” said Bartholomew.

It’s a pretty unsatisfying conclusion for consumers. But Bartholomew said these cases are still important because every dollar a person redeems the company doesn’t get to keep. Plus, lawsuits put pressure on all businesses to respond to customers.

Cards Against Humanity is already accepting requests for tariff refunds from customers. The company paid tariffs as high as 140% on its game, which is manufactured in China. It kept selling the game for $29, but some of its retailer partners raised prices. So, the company made a website, with a big salty banner. Anyone who bought a Cards Against Humanity from any store that increased prices after the tariffs started can upload a receipt. They’ll eventually get a refund on PayPal or Venmo.

Co-creator Josh Dillon said the company has been vocal about tariffs since day one. They even made a deck of cards with an anti-tariff theme.

“Years ago, I think it was the Chicago Sun-Times, said we had the business sophistication of a lemonade stand,” he said. “And I like that ethos in the sense that, you know, it’s not that complicated. We’re just trying to be nice to our customers and as respectful of them as we can.”