"$14 Trillion Windfall Overnight" Cheers as U.S. Companies Hit Tariff Refund Jackpot

Tariff Refunds Accelerate After Supreme Court Ruling
$9.6 Billion in Refunds Flow Back to U.S. Firms
Apple Tops List With $2.1 Billion Refunded
FedEx, Others Plan to Pass Refunds On to Customers

Major U.S. corporations are reportedly receiving tariff refunds at a faster pace than expected. For some companies, these refunds have contributed to higher quarterly earnings. Some firms say they plan to pass the refunds on to customers or use them to reduce prices.

Reference photo to aid understanding of the article. Pixabay

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on August 12 local time, more than 40 companies in the S&P 500 Index reported a combined 9.6 billion dollars (approximately 13.6 trillion won) in tariff refunds. Of this, at least 2.1 billion dollars has already been received in cash.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that the number of filed tariff refund applications surpassed 252,000 as of July 31. The agency also noted in materials recently submitted to a federal court that the total value of refund applications currently being processed stands at 128.7 billion dollars.

By industry, technology hardware companies reported the largest refund amounts. Six companies accounted for a total of 2.5 billion dollars in refunds, with 90% of this attributed to Apple. By company, Apple received the most with approximately 2.2 billion dollars, followed by Nike (986 million dollars), FedEx (about 800 million dollars), Amazon (640 million dollars), and General Motors (GM, 500 million dollars).

Apple stated that tariff refunds boosted its earnings per share (EPS) by 11 cents in the recent quarter—about 5% of the quarter’s total profits. GE HealthCare said that, out of the most recent quarterly EPS of 1.24 dollars, 18 cents came from tariff refunds. The company received 107 million dollars in refunds and expects to receive an additional 38 million dollars.

Some companies intend to directly return the refunds to customers or use them to lower product prices. FedEx plans to gradually distribute approximately 800 million dollars in refunds to shippers and consumers. Costco also said it would return refunds in some form to customers who bore tariff costs. Amazon explained that, in cases where it is difficult to identify individual customers, it will invest the refunds to keep product prices low.

This wave of tariff refunds stems from a legal ruling concerning tariffs imposed on major trading partners by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA, enacted in 1977). The U.S. Supreme Court determined that the IEEPA does not grant the president the authority to impose tariffs. Subsequently, the U.S. Court of International Trade ordered the Trump Administration to implement a process for refunding tariffs to importers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.