The Trump administration has processed approximately $100 billion in tariff refunds through the end of July. While some reports indicate these funds have been paid out, other data specifies that the $100 billion has been approved and sent to the US Treasury Department for payment.
The refunds follow a February 20 ruling by the US Supreme Court, which determined that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not grant the President authority to impose tariffs.
Total amount owed to thousands of US businesses from the struck-down tariffs
Total potential and approved tariff refund requests accepted for processing reached approximately $128.68 billion. As of July 31, importers and customs brokers had submitted 252,496 declarations for these refunds.
In April, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a special system to calculate and process the tariff refunds.
Corporate and Small Business Impact
Major corporations have received significant sums, including $2.2 billion for Apple and $600 million for Amazon. Walmart is owed an estimated $2.4 billion in tariff refunds.
I will pledge to reinvest the refund money into US innovation and manufacturing.
Small businesses have also been affected. Beth Benike, the founder and CEO of Busy Baby, received a $50,000 tariff refund.
A refund isn't the same as being made whole.
Benike stated that while the refund helps cash flow, it does not recover the actual cost of the tariffs.
Retailers have had varying reactions to the funds. Pepsi's CEO stated that the tariff refunds are 'very handy' in helping to offset higher oil and gas prices. UBS retail analyst Michael Lasser stated that some retailers have been using the refunds to fund investments back into pricing to be more competitive.
The Tax Foundation estimated that the struck-down tariffs cost the typical US household $700 last year, while all tariffs combined cost $1,000 per household.
