'Needs to be passed on to consumers': Mark Kelly calls for tariff refunds to ease costs

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz) is mounting political pressure on companies to pass on the tariff rebates to consumers following the Supreme Court's ruling. Kelly argued that the tariff refunds that started rolling out last week should not be used to pad the profits of big corporations, and they should benefit consumers who are long overdue for price relief amid skyrocketing gas prices and higher-than-normal inflation. 

After the Supreme Court struck down Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs and ordered the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to issue refunds, the government set up an online portal for companies to get their money back. Since the first wave of tariff refunds hit the bank accounts of some companies last week, Kelly took to X to express: "Remember when the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s tariffs? Well, now that money is being refunded, it needs to be passed on to consumers." He added that corporations should not absorb the funds to boost profits, arguing it was time for "the American people to get some relief."

According to the data from CBP, about 330,000 importers paid the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), totaling $166 billion. As of last month, at least 75,000 businesses applied for the refunds, out of which 15% of the applications were rejected, according to CBS News. For those approved, some have already received the refunds last week, and many are expected to get them soon. 

However, as Kelly pointed out, the issue is no longer whether companies can reclaim tariff money but whether buyers will get a share of those refunds. Following the approval of the rebates, a wave of lawsuits hit several companies for allegedly not passing on the benefits to the consumers despite raising prices at the time when they were hit by the tariffs. So far, giants including Costco, Amazon, Nike, GM, Ford, and FedEx have already been targeted with proposed class action suits. 

In the case of Amazon, consumers allege in a proposed lawsuit filed in Seattle that the retail giant collected hundreds of millions of dollars in tariff costs by raising prices on imported goods, but it failed to file for the rebates in time. The complaint states that Amazon willingly chose not to file for the refunds "not because it lacks a legal basis to do so, but because it seeks to curry favor with Trump by allowing the federal government to retain the funds," Fox News reported. Last month, in an interview with CNBC, Trump expressed that he was pleased to hear about reports that Apple, Amazon, and some other large companies have not sought refunds. "It's brilliant if they don't do that, I'll remember them. I will tell you that, because I'm looking to make this country strong," the President said.

Meanwhile, Nike is facing a new class action lawsuit for simply failing to pass on the rebate benefits to the consumers. Fox News reported that in the proposed lawsuit, consumers argue Nike raised prices on some footwear by $5 to $10 and on some apparel by $2 to $10 to offset the tariff-related costs, as the company said it paid roughly $1 billion in duties on imported goods. "Nike has made ​no legally binding commitment to return tariff-related overcharges to ​the consumers who actually paid them," the complaint, filed in federal court in Portland, Oregon, said.