WASHINGTON, April 23 - A coalition of 15 Democratic U.S. House members on Thursday urged top executives at major retailers and freight carriers to ensure that any refunds they receive tied to tariffs imposed under the Trump administration are passed through to consumers who bore the higher costs.
The letter, led by Representative Steven Horsford of Nevada, was delivered shortly after U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened a private portal for importers to submit refund requests. That portal was implemented to comply with a court order after the Supreme Court in February struck down broad tariffs that were authorized under a national emergencies law.
In their correspondence, the lawmakers asked company leaders what steps they would take to make certain that tariff relief results in lower prices or direct benefits for consumers, including credits to affected customers. The letter also seeks formal commitments from the companies not to deploy any refunds toward stock buybacks or executive compensation.
The recipients of the letter include chief executives at Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, Best Buy, Costco, FedEx, United Parcel Service and DHL. The Democrats asked for detailed explanations of how companies had shifted tariff costs onto consumers, small businesses and other suppliers.
It is not yet public whether these firms will pursue refunds, in part because the CBP application system is private. Two of the named companies, Costco and FedEx, have taken legal action to prevent the finalization of certain import entries and to preserve their rights to potential refunds. Amazon, Target and Walmart have not filed such lawsuits, according to the information cited by lawmakers.
The lawmakers cited research from the Penn Wharton Budget Model indicating that as much as $175 billion in tariff payments could be subject to refund requests, with up to $700 million additionally in interest payments. Separately, CBP said in March that it had collected $166 billion under tariffs that were backed by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The letter included a warning about the risk that refunds could disproportionately enrich corporate balance sheets and shareholders without reaching consumers. "With substantial refunds likely to be processed soon at the importer level, we are concerned that without transparency and accountability, refunds will benefit corporate balance sheets and shareholders and never reach consumers who paid higher prices," the lawmakers wrote.
The correspondence also referenced a statement from the former president, who said on Tuesday he will "remember" companies that choose not to seek tariff refunds, an apparent suggestion of some unspecified benefit for those firms if they abstain from using the CBP portal.
Context and next steps
The immediate practical question facing these retailers and carriers is whether they will submit refund requests through the CBP portal. Because the application process is private, outside observers cannot currently determine which firms will seek refunds or how any returned funds will be handled. The lawmakers have asked the CEOs to provide specifics on planned uses of any refunds and to affirm commitments that would direct benefits toward the consumers who experienced higher prices.