Ranking Member Markey Calls on Big Businesses to Pay Back Customers for Trump’s Tariff Taxes

U.S. consumers and businesses may be owed $182 billion in tariff refunds, with hundreds of millions more to be paid in interest

Letters (PDF)

(Washington, March 12) - Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today sent letters to the largest retailers and shippers in the country urging them to pass tariff refunds on to consumers and small businesses that bore the brunt of President Trump's illegal International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs, which were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month. Ranking Member Markey's letter comes ahead of the Trump administration providing an update to the U.S. Court of International Trade on its tariff refund process.

In the letter, Ranking Member Markey condemns the Trump administration's handling of the process and highlights the financial burden carried by small businesses, consumers, and working Americans. Ranking Member Markey sent the letter to Amazon, Federal Express (FedEx), Wal-Mart, Costco, DHL, and United Parcel Service (UPS).

Ranking Member Markey wrote, "U.S. consumers and business paid up to 90% of the cost of Trump's tariffs, and $182 billion in tariff refunds may be owed, with hundreds of millions of dollars more to be paid in interest. In court filings in the tariff litigation, the Trump administration represented that it would expeditiously process refunds if it lost the tariff case. But the Administration has since changed its tune, suggesting that the refund question now 'has to get litigated' for as long as 'the next two years.'"

Ranking Member Markey continued, "Other large businesses have promised to return tariff refunds, or to issue automatic refunds to customers who paid them rather than 'waiting around for a rebate that may never come.' I ask that your company does this as well to help ease America's affordability crisis."

Ranking Member Markey requested answers to the following questions by April 15, 2026:

1. How much did your company pay in tariffs imposed under IEEPA?
2. Does your company maintain records linking tariff payments to specific customers, shipments, or tracking numbers?
3. Did your company negotiate with countries of origin or suppliers to share the costs of tariffs imposed on imports? If so, please summarize any agreements and provide copies of any written agreements.
4. What percentage of the IEEPA tariffs paid by your company do you estimate was passed on to customers, including through higher prices? For bulk sales, are tariffs listed as a separate line item on invoices?
5. Of the IEEPA tariff payments your company advanced to CBP, what percentage was bundled into service charges or landed-cost fees rather than billed directly to customers?
6. If your company receives a refund of IEEPA tariff payments, do you intend to refund the corresponding amounts to your customers? If not, please explain why.
7. If your company plans to compensate customers for refunded tariff payments, how will you do so? Please describe the process you will use to issue refunds, including expected timelines, and provide copies of any communications sent or planned to notify customers of this process.
8. How will your company notify customers who may be eligible for tariff-related refunds?
9. If your company does not intend to provide direct refunds to customers, do you plan to lower prices or provide other compensation? If not, please explain why.

Ranking Member Markey is leading the fight to deliver real relief for America's small businesses and workers struggling because of Trump's reckless economic policies.

• Earlier this week, Ranking Member Markey, alongside Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats, introduced the Small Business Liberation 2.0 Act to protect small business owners, workers, and consumers from further tariff-related economic harm under Trump's Section 122 tariffs.
• Last week, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to Trump administration officials renewing his call for a tariff refund process and demanding an investigation into reports that Wall Street traders are taking advantage of Main Street by paying America's small businesses pennies on the dollar for tariff rebates in the absence of an official refund process.

• In February, Ranking Member Markey introduced the Tariff Refund Act of 2026 with Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to require full refunds of Trump's illegal tariffs after they were struck down by the Supreme Court.
• Earlier in February, Ranking Member Markey applauded the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision to strike down Trump's illegal tariffs, held a press conference with Massachusetts small business owners, and called for immediate refunds for America's small businesses.
• Previously, Ranking Member Markey released a report detailing how Trump's affordability crisis, including his devastating tariffs, are hurting Main Streets and working families across America.
• In December, Ranking Member Markey held a press conference on the affordability crisis facing American small businesses and released new state-by-state data on total tariffs paid by small businesses from March to September 2025.
• In November, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Acting Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Pierre Yared to renew his call for an equitable tariff refund process for small businesses.
• Earlier in November, Ranking Member Markey held a press conference to highlight the voices of small business owners impacted by Trump's devastating tariffs, and to call on the Supreme Court to strike down the tariffs.
• Previously, Ranking Member Markey held a press conference to highlight the voices of small business owners impacted by Trump's tariffs. Ranking Member Markey introduced the Small Business RELIEF Act in September 2025, which exempts small businesses from the "Liberation Day" tariffs and requires the President to provide refunds to small businesses who have paid them.
• In August, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and CEA Chair Stephen Miran, calling on their respective agencies to establish and publicize procedures for refunding tariffs to American businesses.
• In May, Ranking Member Markey first attempted to pass the Small Business Liberation Act, legislation that would exempt small businesses from the broad, reckless global tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Ranking Member Markey returned to the Senate floor in an effort to pass the Small Business Liberation Act in August. Republicans blocked his legislation on the Senate floor on both occasions.