Consumers paid for Trump’s illegal tariffs. These companies may profit.

President Trump imposed sweeping global tariffs during his first year as president. To justify many of the tariffs, Trump relied on a novel interpretation of a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which did not mention tariffs at all. But in February, the Supreme Court struck down the majority of Trump’s tariffs, ruling 6-3 that Trump had exceeded his authority. The court found that Trump’s tariffs were unconstitutional, as “taxation power clearly belongs to Congress.”

In recent months, thousands of companies have sued the Trump administration over its tariff policies, seeking refunds for tariff-related costs.

The Supreme Court did not discuss refunds in its ruling. But at the beginning of March, Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that companies that paid tariffs were “entitled to benefit” from the Supreme Court ruling. The order directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin the refund process and to stop collecting the tariffs that were struck down. (The judge later “temporarily suspended his order to give the government time to prepare” after CBP said in an affidavit that “immediate compliance was not logistically possible,” Bloomberg reported. CBP estimated that it could start offering refunds by late April.)

The federal government could now be responsible for issuing “refunds worth $175 billion,” according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

While it seems likely that companies will eventually get refunds from Trump’s tariffs, much of the cost was borne by consumers. Many companies publicly stated that they were raising prices due to the tariffs. But now that the tariffs are being refunded, only a few companies have pledged to refund customers or offer discounts.

Popular Information contacted 18 companies— including Lululemon, Dollar General, and Crocs— that said they hiked prices due to tariffs and are suing the Trump administration for tariff refunds. We asked whether they would offer customers refunds or discounts once the refunds are processed. None of the companies responded.

Major companies offering refunds or discounts

Costco is one of the few companies that has promised to pass some of the refunded tariff money back to customers.

“As we’ve done in the past, when legal challenges have recovered charges passed on in some form to our members, our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value to our members,” Costco CEO Ron Vachris said during an earnings call last week. Vachris said that the company would return recovered tariff money to customers “through lower prices and better values,” but noted that “it is not yet clear what the process will be, what refunds, if any, will be received, and when this will happen.” Costco executives also said during the call that the company took steps to absorb some of the increased cost caused by tariffs instead of passing it on to customers.

In November, Costco sued the Trump administration over its tariff policies and sought refunds.

FedEx has also pledged to refund a portion of any tariff money it receives to customers. “Our intent is straightforward: if refunds are issued to FedEx, we will issue refunds to the shippers and consumers who originally bore those charges,” FedEx said in a statement on its website. “When that will happen and the exact process for requesting and issuing refunds will depend in part on future guidance from the government and the court.”

In February, FedEx also sued the federal government for a full refund of tariff-related costs.

Companies that will not commit to refunding customers

Unlike Costco and FedEx, several companies that have sued the Trump administration for a tariff refund have not pledged to refund customers, despite publicly stating they were raising prices due to tariffs.

Abercrombie & Fitch, the clothing brand that also owns Hollister, raised prices late last year and announced that it would continue to do so for its spring inventory. Despite passing some of the cost of tariffs along to its consumers, Abercrombie & Fitch has not said that it will share any refund it might receive from the federal government if it wins its lawsuit. “We feel good about the [tariff] mitigation strategies that we put in place,” the company’s CFO said on a call with analysts last week.

Similarly, Columbia Sportswear is suing the government, but has not indicated that it will share any potential refunds with its customers. Columbia was among the companies that announced planned price hikes before Trump had even been elected to his second term in anticipation of his tariff plans. In October 2024, Columbia CEO Tim Boyle told the Washington Post, “We’re buying stuff today for delivery next fall. So we’re just going to deal with it and we’ll just raise the prices. … It’s going to be very, very difficult to keep products affordable for Americans.”

GoPro announced price increases on its cameras in August. In a report on its 2025 Q2 earnings call, GoPro said, “We expect to offset half of our expected tariff costs with modest price increases.” Although GoPro expected price increases to cover a significant portion of its tariff costs, the company has not publicly announced plans to pass any refunds from its lawsuit against the government back to consumers.

Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo announced price hikes in the U.S. during a July earnings call. One executive said during the meeting, “It will be difficult to absorb all costs. Our approach will be to raise prices where possible and not where it isn’t possible, while ultimately focusing on creating a sustainable business that securely generates profits.” Uniqlo has not said that it will reimburse customers who absorbed the cost increases for their products if it wins a refund from the Trump administration.

Other companies that raised their prices to account for tariff costs and are now suing the Trump administration for a refund, but have not announced plans to refund consumers include:

Steve Madden

Crocs

EssilorLuxottica (Ray-Ban’s parent company)

Lululemon

Deckers (parent company of UGG and Hoka)

Dollar General

Trek Bicycle

Yeti

Helly Hansen

Brooks Running

Allbirds

Dyson

Puma

Nintendo

The customers strike back

At least two companies that have sued the federal government for tariff refunds are facing lawsuits of their own from consumers.

Although FedEx has promised refunds to customers, one consumer says that their promise is not enough. In a class action lawsuit filed one day after FedEx announced its refund plans, plaintiff Matthew Reiser claimed that FedEx’s pledge “creates no legally enforceable obligation and is expressly contingent on future government and court guidance that may never materialize.”

The lawsuit seeks a refund of the tariffs that FedEx customers paid — regardless of whether FedEx wins any money from its own lawsuit against the government — and a refund of the “ancillary brokerage and clearance fees for processing customs entries” that would not have been necessary if it were not for the tariffs.

Another consumer has filed a similar lawsuit against EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban. Unlike FedEx, EssilorLuxottica has not promised consumers a refund if it wins its lawsuit against the Trump administration.

“Despite seeking an order entitling it to a refund of the duties collected as a result of the subject tariffs, EssilorLuxottica continues to collect and has not refunded the tariff surcharges it collected from consumers,” the lawsuit alleges. “EssilorLuxottica’s retention of those surcharges unjustly profits EssilorLuxottica at the expense of consumers.”

UPS is also facing a lawsuit from a customer seeking a refund for tariff costs that UPS passed on, although the company itself has not sued the government for a refund.