‘So sad’: Trump has to start refunding $231b of his illegal tariffs |
‘So sad’: Trump has to start refunding $231b of his illegal tariffs
May 5, 2026 — 12:06pm
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Refund cheques will start flowing next week as the revenues from Donald Trump’s most contentious tariffs are returned to those who paid them.
Those cheques are the first tranche of Trump’s $US166 billion ($231 billion) “reciprocal” tariffs on imports to the US that the Supreme Court declared illegal in February.
With interest accruing every day at rates of 4.5 per cent or 6 per cent, depending on the size of the shipment, the total the Trump administration will have to return could top $US174 billion.
So, the US government will not get to keep its tariff revenue. The country’s deficit will be larger and government debt higher. And while US households won’t receive the tariff “dividends” that Trump promised, the inflationary effects of the tariffs – and the consumer and voter angst they generated as prices rose – won’t be undone.
Consumer anger about this is already evidenced by a range of class actions – about 20 so far – taken against big companies. Companies like Costco and Nintendo and the big shipping couriers like FedEx, UPS and DHL have all been targeted by actions seeking the disbursement of the refund monies to consumers.
But that’s not going to happen. It would be a logistical nightmare. The refunds will go to the importers of record – the companies that handed over the cheques to pay the duties. While the shipping couriers have said they will refund their customers for duties paid, the recipients will themselves be companies, not end-consumers.
‘The people that have hated the United States, we’re giving them cheques for billions of dollars. It’s so sad to see.’Donald Trump
When Trump imposed the tariffs on April 2 last year – “Liberation Day,” as he dubbed it – companies responded in a variety of ways.
Some leaned on their foreign suppliers, some absorbed the costs within........