Class action suit seeks consumer tariff refunds from Amazon
A new lawsuit alleges Amazon is placing good standing with the Trump Administration over reimbursing consumers for charging them "unlawful" tariff costs.
The class action suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle by two consumers, alleges Amazon collected "hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful tariff costs" from its customers by raising prices on imported goods affected by tariffs placed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, between February 2025 and February 2026.
However, in February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump Administration does not have the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs on imported products under IEEPA. In May 2026,
In April 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched a digital portal that allows companies which paid those tariffs to apply for refunds. According to CNBC, analysis from Citi indicates several major U.S. retailers and brands are eligible to be repaid millions and even billions of dollars they paid due to the overturned tariffs.
[READ MORE: Tariff refund portal opens; some retailers may be due billions]
The suit claims that Amazon is among these retailers and is legally able to apply for hundreds of millions of dollars it paid in IEEPA tariffs on imported goods and then recouped from customers through higher prices.
But according to the suit, Amazon has chosen to forgo seeking restitution from the federal government for paying those tariffs and then using those funds to reimburse affected consumers because the company "seeks to curry favor with Trump by allowing the federal government to retain the funds."
In addition, the suit cites reports from April 2025 that Amazon had been planning on displaying any impact from tariffs on imports first imposed on April 2 had on the overall price of the goods it sells but scrapped those plans after a personal phone call between Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. At the time, Amazon publicly stated its ultra-low-cost Amazon Haul storefront considered listing import charges on certain products but the idea was never approved.
The suit requests a jury trial and asks for Amazon to be forced to return any tariff funds it collected from customers to them. In a public statement issued when the tariff refund portal first opened, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said businesses that receive tariff refunds should pass those savings along to their customers.
"After more than a year, the Trump administration will begin issuing tariff refunds it illegally took from small businesses and the American people," Markey said in the statement. "But because of this administration’s shortsighted decision to not issue automatic refunds, it will be big businesses that benefit the most. American small businesses and families deserve to get their money back with interest. Big businesses that get refunds need to get the money back to their customers; ‘everyday low prices’ is not the way to do it."
Reuters reports that companies including Costco, Fedex and Nike have had similar tariff refund suits filed against them. Chain Store Age has reached out to Amazon for comment. View the full lawsuit filing, provided by Thomson Reuters, here.
