Coverage spread: 2 sources — 1 center · 1 international
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- About $100 billion of the roughly $166 billion collected under IEEPA tariffs has been refunded to importers, following the Supreme Court’s February ruling that the tariffs were unlawful.
- Billions more remain unpaid — about $29 billion under review and $1.6 billion held up by missing banking details from importers.
- Under customs law only the businesses that directly paid the tariffs can claim refunds, meaning consumers have no automatic right to any of the money.
- Major companies, including Amazon and Sony, have already received large refund sums tied to the tariffs.
Where they differ
- BBC frames the story mainly around the scale and mechanics of the government’s repayment process and the follow-on tariff policy changes (the new 10% tariff, tariffs on 60 countries, and the 50% Canada tariff).
- Fortune centers on the consumer backlash, detailing specific lawsuits against Five Below and Sony over refunds not being passed to shoppers.
- Fortune includes Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s “ultimate corporate welfare” quote and cites research on who actually bears tariff costs; BBC does not mention Bessent’s comment or the lawsuits at all.
- Fortune gives specific financial detail on Five Below’s sales growth and Sony’s refund-driven earnings jump, while BBC’s company examples are limited to Amazon’s $600 million refund figure.
The Trump administration has refunded about $100 billion in tariffs collected under its “Liberation Day” import tax program, after the Supreme Court ruled in February that the underlying tariffs were unlawful. The money has gone to importers and businesses that paid the levies, but several U.S. consumers are now suing retailers, arguing that shoppers who covered the cost through higher prices deserve a share of the refunds too.
How much money is involved, and where has it gone?
According to a filing made to the U.S. Court of International Trade, roughly $100 billion has been sent to the Treasury Department for disbursement to approved importers as of the end of July. That’s about 60% of the $166 billion the government collected under tariffs imposed through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Another $29 billion in refund claims is still being reviewed by trade authorities, and $1.6 billion more is on hold because some importers haven’t provided banking details needed to process payment. Customs and Border Protection expects the total payout to keep climbing as remaining claims get processed.
Why were the tariffs refunded in the first place?
The Trump administration had used IEEPA, a 1977 law meant to let presidents regulate trade during declared emergencies, to impose broad “Liberation Day” tariffs on imports. The Supreme Court struck this down in February, ruling the administration had overstepped its authority under the law. Trump responded by introducing a temporary 10% universal tariff, which expired last month, and has since imposed new tariffs on 60 trading partners tied to allegations they haven’t done enough to combat forced labor. Days before that, he also imposed a 50% tariff on Canada.
Who has already gotten refunds?
Some large companies have already reported receiving substantial sums. Amazon’s finance chief, Brian Olsavsky, said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call that Amazon received about $600 million in refunds, some of which will go back to customers where specific tariff charges applied, with the rest supporting lower prices generally. Sony reported a 37% year-over-year jump in operating income, driven in large part by about 80 billion yen ($507.7 million) in tariff refunds tied to its PlayStation business. Under customs law, only the importers who directly paid the tariffs can file for refunds — consumers have no automatic right to a cut, leaving any pass-through entirely up to each company.
Why are consumers suing companies over this?
Several lawsuits argue that shoppers, not companies, effectively paid the tariffs through higher retail prices, and should now get some benefit from the refunds. In July, New York resident Tyasia Johns filed a class action against discount retailer Five Below, alleging it raised prices to cover the IEEPA tariffs, preserved its profit margins — including a 22.9% year-over-year jump in net sales to $4.76 billion in 2025 — and has not said whether it applied for refunds or plans to pass any back to customers. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and damages for a proposed class, though it doesn’t specify a dollar figure or class size. Separately, in May, Sony customers filed a class action alleging the company got a “double recovery windfall” by raising PlayStation prices to cover tariffs and then also collecting refunds once the tariffs were struck down. Neither Five Below nor Sony has responded publicly to the claims.
What did officials say about who really benefits?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted after the Supreme Court’s ruling that the refunds would amount to “ultimate corporate welfare” — helping businesses rather than the consumers who footed the bill through higher prices. Research cited in coverage broadly supports the idea that the cost of tariffs was largely passed on to U.S. importers and, ultimately, shoppers, lending some weight to that prediction, though the outcome for individual consumers will depend on decisions made retailer by retailer.
What happens next?
The refund process is ongoing, with billions of dollars still tied up in review or awaiting banking paperwork from importers. At the same time, the legal fight over whether consumers deserve a cut of the money is just beginning, with the Five Below and Sony cases likely to test whether companies can be forced to pass tariff refunds down to the people who arguably paid for them through higher prices. Meanwhile, new tariffs — on 60 trading partners and on Canada — mean the broader tariff dispute is far from resolved even as the “Liberation Day” refunds get paid out.
Sources
Featured photo: CBP Photography via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)