Greg Nash President Trump holds a chart as he speaks during an event to sign executive orders regarding tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on April 2, 2025. Tariff refunds are showing up on Wall Street.
The latest quarter spanned the Trump administration handing back the bulk of the $100 billion returned so far. It’s providing many companies a boost as they report their earnings.
Amazon reported receiving $600 million. Apple said tariff refunds added $0.11 in diluted earnings per share for the quarter. PepsiCo told investors that refunds were helping offset higher commodity costs. Caterpillar said its refunds boosted its operating profit margin higher than anticipated.
They are among the mega-cap names reaping the benefits after sitting out the legal fight. And tariff refunds extend well beyond tech, as an array of industries try to recoup billions they paid the invalidated tariffs.
Even as the refund amount crosses the $100 billion mark, not all the tariffs have been returned. The government estimates the deposits amount to $166 billion in total.
Small businesses and Democratic-led states were the ones to defeat Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs at the Supreme Court. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an outside brief in support, but backing from large corporations was scant.
Once the high court’s 6-3 ruling invalidating Trump’s tariff landed, it sparked a massive refund process from small and big businesses alike.
“The tariff refunds comes, obviously, very handy and in some other trade-offs that we have to make in the business,” PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said on the company’s earnings call last month.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in an update on Tuesday that $100 billion in refunds has been sent for disbursement so far since it launched its online refund system, known as CAPE.
“The CAPE program has been a remarkable success,” U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton, an appointee of former President Clinton overseeing the refund process, said at a Thursday hearing.
Apple’s CFO attributed $0.11 of diluted earnings per share last quarter to tariff refunds.
At Amazon, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian Olsavsky said on the company’s earnings call last week that it has received $600 million.
“We are participating in the tariff refund process,” Olsavsky said.
The earnings reports have cast aside any lingering doubt that the companies may hold off on recouping tariffs they paid.
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with the courts’ mandate to refund importers, and in April, he rejoiced at reports suggesting Apple and Amazon wouldn’t participate.
“I think it’s brilliant if they don’t do that,” Trump told CNBC at the time. “Actually, if they don’t do that, they’ve got to know me very well.”
“If they don’t do that, I’ll remember them,” Trump said.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment. Apple did not return The Hill’s request for comment.
As Apple last week pointed to its in-hand refund, Apple CEO Tim Cook emphasized the company’s 12-figure commitment for new domestic investments.
“We plan to reinvest the tariff refunds we’ve received into the U.S,” Cook reminded investors on the earnings call. “We’re pleased with the progress we’ve already made advancing the American supply chain.”
Still, any boost to the companies’ stock valuations from tariff refunds was dwarfed by investors’ focus on the AI boom and companies’ capital spending. Amazon’s stock surged on its cloud-computing sales growth, while Apple’s fell over a weaker-than-expected revenue growth forecast.
Johnson & Johnson CFO Joseph Wolk highlighted refunds as a reason for improvement in the healthcare giant’s pre-tax operating margin.
“We now expect approximately a 75-basis point improvement, supported by continuing operating efficiencies and anticipated reduction and recoupment of certain tariff-related costs based on the latest rulings,” Wolk said on the company’s July 15 earnings call.
PepsiCo CFO Steve Schmitt told investors on its earnings call that refund claims would amount to about 1 full point of earnings-per-share growth for the year.
“We expect a gradual improvement in North America,” Schmitt said, “and we will be using the tariff, essentially the refunds, to help offset some commodity inflation that we’re seeing and allow us to continue to play offense in the business.”
Still, executives are cautioning the refunds are only a one-time bump. Companies are still grappling with Trump’s new waves of global tariffs he imposed after the Supreme Court’s ruling. Those are the subject of ongoing litigation.
In each round of tariffs, large corporations haven’t led the charge. The cases bear the names of small businesses like wine importer VOS Selections, educational toy company Learning Resources and spice business Burlap & Barrel. Blue states have also joined the fight, but not mega-cap corporations.
As they now join in to claim refunds, the influx has also led to questions about whether consumers will see any of the money. The government is legally obligated to refund actual importers, not their customers.
Dozens of lawsuits are popping up across the country alleging it amounts to unjust enrichment, or corporations are somehow otherwise obligated to hand over refunds back to customers.
Consumers have filed lawsuits against a long list of brands, including Adidas, American Girl, Columbia Sportswear, Dyson, Five Below, General Motors, IKEA, Lululemon, Mattel, Microsoft, Nike, Puma, Ralph Lauren, Stanley Black & Decker, Target and Zara.
Some law firms are involved in bringing multiple actions. Companies are pushing back by saying at least some cases suffer procedural defects and that they’re meritless, anyway.
“Plaintiff agreed to pay that charge and got exactly what he paid for. At bottom, Plaintiff’s theory would turn vehicle pricing on its head,” lawyers for General Motors wrote this week as they urged a judge to toss a lawsuit from a man concerning a Buick Enclave he says he purchased in February.
Amazon and FedEx are two of the most prominent companies that have indicated some direct refunds will be passed along.
FedEx told investors in a recent financial report that its cash balance included $800 million being held to refund customers for tariffs.
Olsavsky, Amazon’s CFO, said on the company’s earnings call last week that there are “limited circumstances” where the company could trace specific tariff refunds to customers.
“When we receive those refunds, we will proactively contact affected customers and automatically issue refunds to them,” Olsavsky said. “Otherwise, like other large retailers, we’ll utilize refunds to continue to invest in low prices for customers.”
Refunds continue to rise. But lawyers and the trade court judge have acknowledged that some smaller importers won’t take advantage of the system, and it also doesn’t accept claims in some circumstances.
“We are left with the prospect of the Treasury retaining billions of dollars of unlawfully collected duties and tens of thousands of importers being denied refunds they are owed,” said Eaton, the judge, at a Thursday hearing.
He convened the hearing to consider certifying a class action to ensure all refunds go out. Once again, it’s a motion led by small businesses.
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