Consumers sue Amazon for not refunding Trump tariff costs

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

May 15, 2026 8:20 PM EDT Updated 10 hours ago


May 15 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) 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.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/consumers-sue-amazon-not-refunding-trump-tariff-costs-2026-05-16/

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Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/lbpgyxqwrpq/05152026amazon.pdf

[SergeStorms]

1. Fuck Bezos.

What a freaking worm.

Sorry about my language, but Bezos really pisses me off! After all, it was his customers who actually paid for that abomination of a mockumentary about Melanoma, too.

[mopinko]

2. they have all the info at their fingertips.

they need to use it for our benefit for once.

[dlk]

3. Behind every great fortune is a great crime...

n/t

[The Madcap]

4. I will get my cut

by eliminating Amazon from my shopping sources.

By not buying, I'll eventually recoup what I've spent. I'm deliberately trying to avoid spending on anything but absolute necessities at this point.

[paleotn]

5. It was going to be a mess from the start...

Figuring out who actually paid the tariff, and how much of the tariff, as it was passed down the supply chain like a hot potato, is damn near impossible. A lot of vendors simply added a tariff surcharge based on a guess or no guess at all of the impact. How much of that is actual tariff or tariff gouging is move complicated than the Gordian Knot.

Trying to unravel it will cause even more trouble. Just chock it up to Trump stupidity and use the revenue to pay down the national debt.

[JohnnyRingo]

6. What upsets me is they will probably set a court date in 2027....

...and it will go from there. Amazon will drag it out saying a year wasn't enough to prepare and push the second date back to sometime in 2028 or later. Then one delay after another and it may be settled around five years from now..... Then Amazon will appeal.

All this time the class action lawyers are piling up billable hours to take off the top of the settlement. I'll probably get $3.00 off a Kindle eBook.

Could it be because most judges only work one or two days a week?

[Tben]

10. Appeal after settling?

A settlement is a legal agreement that binds all parties. In only the rarest of cases could there be an appeal after settlement.

[JohnnyRingo]

14. I figured it may be more of a judgement than a settlement

I doubt Amazon ever admits liability.

[Joinfortmill]

7. Good. Bezos and Amazon need to be taxed BIGLY!

[70sEraVet]

8. What chaps my ass (what an odd expressession!) ...

is that companies passed the cost of tariffs on to the consumers (which is justified), but after the tariffs were lifted the costs DIDN'T GO BACK DOWN!!

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. You are correct. The same happens with groceries for a while

Prices go up for a while, then it taxes a long term me for them to go back down. In effect, it tests the market. How long will people pay $5 for a dozen eggs? I'm on Social Security, so if everyone's eggs were $5, I just didn't buy eggs! If there was a week where eggs were on sale, I stocked up!

The cost of diesel and fertilizer will hit farmers HARD. Then there are the ones who lost their export market and WILL NEVER GET IT BACK. They'll have no choice but to sell their farms for a fraction of their worth to large agribusinesses and investors, both domestic AND FOREIGN! And most of them voted for Trump!

[Danascot]

9. Let's say $376B has been raised in tariffs*

The number of US households is about 134M. That's works out to about $2,800 per household. That could be returned as a rebate to each household. Distributing it directly to each household would avoid years of litigation and legal fees, and complex mechanisms in administration of a more complicated scheme, plus most people could really use the money right about now.

*Tariff collection figures: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/tariff-tracker/

[ColoringFool]

11. Never Going Anywhere.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. They'll probably settle by issuing a $1 credit for use towards their "digital" products

(e.g., movies, music, videos, kindle books, which they already do if you move an order's delivery to your specified "Amazon delivery day" during a week ).