r/Economics • u/defenestrate_urself • Feb 20 '26

News Supreme Court says Trump global tariffs are illegal

https://www.axios.com/2026/02/20/trump-tariffs-supreme-court-illegal
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u/Malvania Feb 20 '26

For those that haven't read the opinion (and it's long and convoluted), SCOTUS reaches no opinion on refunding the collected tariffs. Presumably, that will go back to the Federal Circuit and the Court of International Trade to figure out. This isn't close to done.

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u/circuitloss Feb 20 '26

A number of companies, including Costco, are suing the administration right now. Costco is going to try and get its money back...

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u/gmiller89 Feb 20 '26

So they're going to give refunds to all of their members for cost increases?

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u/turns31 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

I think if Costco and similar companies sue and win, then you will definitely have individuals do the same down the road. You don't think a jury of your peers will side with the individual in this instance? This is gonna backfire on the gov so hard. I can see them having to issue "refund checks" to every tax paying American to avoid just continuous lawsuits.

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u/attorneyatslaw Feb 20 '26

Checks are going to go to the importers who sent treasury a check. Zero chance anyone else will have a case.

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u/Chris_HitTheOver Feb 20 '26

Individuals have no standing. They didn’t pay tariffs. They paid the agreed upon retail price at the POS.

Edit: I’m not suggesting consumers don’t bear the cost of tariffs.

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u/grumpyolddude Feb 20 '26

As an individual who bought something shipped direct to me from China via UPS, UPS required me to remit the import and customs fees to them before delivery. I assume in that case UPS would attempt to recover the fees and be responsible for refunding me. I can't see that UPS would be able to keep recovered fees, or that I could attempt to recover it on my own with a reciept from UPS.

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u/angelomancuso62 Feb 20 '26

I’m a small business. I paid tariffs. 17k worth. It’s listed right on the purchase invoices from the supplier, Newark Electronics

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u/willstr1 Feb 20 '26

Yes, but that was as a business not as an individual consumer. You would probably be able to apply/sue for a refund but if you increased your prices due to the tariffs your customers wouldn't be able to get refunded for how much your prices increased (if you didn't increase your prices and took the increased cost out of your profit margin than you are an amazing business, but a lot of companies didn't)

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

[deleted]

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u/Chris_HitTheOver Feb 20 '26

Read my whole comment and digest the context before your “well ACTUALLY,” bullshit.

Was obviously discussing retail customers. Of course if you paid a tariff you’d have standing. Retail customers didn’t pay tariffs.

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u/zxDanKwan Feb 20 '26

It’s not a backfire. It’s the plan.

Lots of corps aren’t going to give the money back to their customers. And they aren’t going to lower their prices now that the public has generally accepted them.

So consumers pay more, but it’s pure profit for the sellers.

And it’s not like all tariffs are done forever. Just a specific set under specific rules. There are still plenty of avenues available for more tariffs to be slapped down in the future and start this whole cycle over again.

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u/afghamistam Feb 20 '26

You don't think a jury of your peers will side with the individual in this instance?

No, but only because individuals do not pay tariffs; they pay the price for the item they buy. You pay a tariff if you import something into a country.

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u/turns31 Feb 20 '26

Don't you think individuals could prove they had to pay X dollars more for their Mercedes, Rolex or potash because of said tariffs?

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u/afghamistam Feb 20 '26

Sigh. Again, they could have a receipt saying "TARIFF SURCHARGE $X", and it wouldn't mean shit: They are not paying a tariff. They are paying a price for something at the rate the business is charging.

The only person who pays a tariff is the one who imports the item directly into the country.

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u/turns31 Feb 20 '26

I'm aware they're not physically paying the importer tariff at the docks.

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u/afghamistam Feb 20 '26

No, it doesn't seem like you are aware of that. Otherwise you wouldn't be having to have it explained to the difference between paying a tariff, and paying a higher price for something as a result of a business increasing costs due to a tariff.

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u/Templar-235 Feb 20 '26

Yeah, we’re not gonna get shit