Consumers sue Amazon for not refunding Trump tariff costs


By Nate Raymond

May 15 (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc was sued on Friday by consumers seeking refunds for costs passed on to them in the form of higher ‌prices as a result of tariffs the U.S. Supreme Court later concluded had ‌been unlawfully imposed by President Donald Trump.

Consumers in a proposed class action filed in federal court in Seattle alleged ​that the e-commerce giant collected hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful tariff costs by raising prices on imported goods before the Supreme Court had ruled.

The U.S. Supreme Court in February concluded in a 6-3 decision that Trump overstepped his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers ‌Act to impose his sweeping tariffs.

Thousands ⁠of companies have begun to seek billions of dollars in refunds from the government following the ruling.

But Amazon has not, which the lawsuit alleged ⁠was “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.”

“The problem is that the funds ​Amazon ​is using to stay in the President’s good graces ​do not belong to Amazon,” the ‌lawsuit says. “These funds were wrongfully taken from consumers to cover IEEPA Tariffs that have since been invalidated.”

The lawsuit asserts claims of unjust enrichment and violation of Washington state’s consumer-protection law.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit follows several earlier cases filed by consumers accusing companies ranging from Costco to Nike to FedEx of failing to pass on tariff refunds ‌to consumers.

Unlike companies that imported goods, consumers are ​not eligible to seek tariff refunds from the government for ​the higher costs they incurred while ​they were in effect, Friday’s lawsuit notes.

To support its claim that politics ‌were behind Amazon’s actions, the lawsuit notes ​that in April 2025, ​the company faced White House blowback after a report that it was considering displaying how much of a product’s cost came from the IEEPA tariffs.

Amazon denied the story ​and said it never considered ‌listing tariff prices on its main retail site. But the report prompted Trump ​to call Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos to complain, the lawsuit says.

(Reporting by ​Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Tom Hogue)



Source link

  • Related Posts

    Takeaways from Trump’s trip to China: Taiwan, a new framework for relationship and flattery for Xi

    BEIJING (AP) — For three days in China, President Donald Trump was unusually quiet, not speaking to reporters much and even mostly staying off social media. Then he got on…

    Supreme Court rejects Virginia Democrats’ attempt to revive new congressional map

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday turned away a long-shot effort by Virginia Democrats to revive a new, voter-approved congressional map they wanted to use in this year’s midterm…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    ArXiv will ban researchers who upload papers full of AI slop

    ArXiv will ban researchers who upload papers full of AI slop

    County Championship: Sanderson wickets give Northants edge over Glos

    County Championship: Sanderson wickets give Northants edge over Glos

    Selena Gomez Steps Out in Satin Heels in London

    Selena Gomez Steps Out in Satin Heels in London

    UK artist defends ‘Drawings Against Genocide’ after show cancelled | Israel-Palestine conflict

    UK artist defends ‘Drawings Against Genocide’ after show cancelled | Israel-Palestine conflict

    Canada Gazette – Part I, October 2, 2021, Vol. 155, No. 40

    Takeaways from Trump’s trip to China: Taiwan, a new framework for relationship and flattery for Xi

    Takeaways from Trump’s trip to China: Taiwan, a new framework for relationship and flattery for Xi