Donald Trump on Tuesday told CNBC that he will gratefully “remember” U.S. companies that do not seek refunds for the tariffs he unilaterally imposed, which the Supreme Court later ruled were illegal.
Trump’s comment on “Squawk Box” came a day after U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened a portal for importers to seek more than $160 billion in potential refunds for the so-called IEEPA tariffs.
He was asked about a number of large companies, among them Apple and Amazon, that have not filed requests for refunds for the tariffs they paid, potentially because they are worried about “offending” Trump.
I’m sure some companies did that, but do you have data suggesting that was a widespread practice? Because what I read was that lots and lots of companies tried to stock up on materials before the tariffs went into effect, so they wouldn’t have to raise prices, and then many just ate the extra cost for a while - hoping the tariffs would be short lived - because they knew they would lose customers, before ultimately raising prices to cover. Many companies did lose money on the deal, according to what was reported.
But I’ll read whatever you have from a reputable source.
Back in 2018, there was already evidence companies were using tariffs as cover to jack prices up beyond the tariff itself. An AEA study found washing machine prices went up almost 12%, and dryers went up about the same amount even though dryers were not tariffed. Once you include dryers and domestic brands too, prices rose by more than the tariff alone would explain.
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Faer.20190611
And this is not just old news. In a 2025 New York Fed survey, about three quarters of firms said they passed tariff costs on to customers, and some said they also raised prices on goods that were not even tariffed. The Fed’s Beige Book flat out said some of the price hikes were not just from tariffs or higher costs, but from “opportunism.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ny-fed-survey-last-month-most-firms-passed-some-tariff-surge-2025-06-04/
By 2026, the Fed was saying pass-through was basically complete. One Federal Reserve note found the tariffs put in place through November 2025 had raised core goods prices by 3.1% by February 2026. Another found both imported goods and domestic goods got more expensive after the 2025 tariff announcements.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-slow-climb-how-tariffs-gradually-raised-retail-prices-in-2025-20260305.html
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/detecting-tariff-effects-on-consumer-prices-in-real-time-part-II-20260408.html
And of course, once prices go up, companies are not eager to bring them back down. Reuters reported in February 2026 that businesses were unlikely to lower prices even after tariff relief, and were more likely to use that relief to offset other costs and chase refunds instead.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dont-bet-on-lower-prices-businesses-say-even-after-emergency-trump-tariffs-were-2026-02-24/
I know of some companies that didn’t raise prices or only raised them a small amount, but all the ones I heard of were mostly small companies making specialized products and depended on the loyalty of their customers.
No. They stocked up on the product BEFORE the tariff and then raised the prices to match the upcoming costs. Ask anyone in actual retail management (not middle managers but those that buy the products and set the prices).
Any company that sold their current stock at the old price was making a rookie mistake. That’s like resale 101. You can’t possibly sell products for less than what it costs to replace them. If they were doing that they don’t deserve to get any money back because they don’t understand how to use it.
If they’re able to have a lower price than their competitors, they can take so of the sales, unless they’re illegally price fixing, which some likely did.
You’re still saying a lot of things as absolute fact without any citation. Do you have a source for any of this?
Decades of sales experience. Retail management during COVID price hikes.
I saw this first hand. I don’t need to read reports because I lived it.
But sure. Show me all the great companies that tried to keep prices low, to what, be nice to the consumer?
That ain’t how things work.