Where Are Americans’ Tariff Rebate Checks? Arrow

The Trump administration's tariff refund process started, but experts warn that only businesses will get refunds while consumers are left empty-handed

This week, Donald Trump's administration is beginning to refund $166 billion in tariff revenue after the Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump's tariffs were illegal. Despite Trump's repeated promises that Americans will get rebate checks, consumers are unlikely to receive any refunds. American families are estimated to pay more than $330 billion in 2026 - an additional $2,500 per family - because of Trump's reckless tariffs.

Trump promised last year, "A dividend of at least $2,000 a person…will be paid to everyone" through tariff revenue and he repeated that promise as recently as February of this year. Just this morning, Trump said if the Supreme Court "had common sense, we would not be paying back" the tariff revenue.

In response, DNC Spokesperson Jaelin O'Halloran released the following statement:

"Donald Trump promised Americans over and over that they would get a refund for shelling out thousands of dollars for his reckless tariffs. Now he's being forced to refund billions after the Supreme Court ruled that his tariffs were illegal - so where are the checks? Americans have gotten nothing but skyrocketing prices, mounting layoffs, and cuts to health care and food assistance programs they depend on, while Trump and his wealthy donors are the only ones seeing more money in their pockets. Trump owes working families, small business owners, and farmers a check for the billions of dollars they paid for his unhinged trade war."

Only businesses that directly paid the tariffs are currently eligible to recover money. Even though consumers paid for Trump's tariffs through price increases, they are ineligible under the current plan to receive refunds. While large businesses are expected to be the main recipients of tariff refunds, few have committed to sharing that revenue with consumers, given that many expect Trump to double down on his reckless tariffs.

Meanwhile, small business importers paid an average of $306,000 in tariff costs last year, however many lack the legal and financial resources to recoup the money they lost because of Trump's tariffs. A Federal Reserve survey last month found that over 40% of small businesses called rising costs from tariffs a main financial concern, and some owners reported increasing lines of credits or even taking out a second mortgage just to stay afloat.