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 think I’m with the companies here, which feels weird to say. The Trump admin imposed these ridiculous tariffs, which the companies had to pay. Makes no sense for them to lose money on the products they sell, so of course they raised prices, which we all said they would have to when the tariffs were imposed. Meanwhile, the administration pocketed the money. Then the tariffs were ruled to have been illegal.
So yes, I want the companies to go after the money that the administration illegally bilked them (and, indirectly, us) out of. I hope they figure out ways to pass the recovered money back to customers; Costco has said it will use the money to lower prices. But it’s actually more important to me that the administration not get away with the illegal tariffs.
I mean, sort of, but not really. The money went into the Federal budget, and even if some of it did get embezzled by Trump cronies, the money that comes back isn’t going to come back out of their pockets.
If the embezzlement happened, that’s a separate, additional crime on top of issuing the illegal tariffs themselves.
Then the only correct solution is prison (or worse) for the officials involved. Making the Federal government (i.e., we, the people) pay back the illegal tariffs does fuck-all to punish the corrupt officials responsible.
I’m not saying the illegal tariffs shouldn’t be refunded, I’m just saying it isn’t the punishment you’re looking for.
(Oh, by the way: the next step in your recap of the situation is going to be “the Federal government raises taxes to cover the ‘shortfall’ caused by refunding the illegal tariffs.” I haven’t heard anything about it yet, but you’ll see. We, the people will be left holding the bag again.)
I’m with you on prison.
I understand that our taxes will go up. This administration is screwing the vast majority of the American people. Only the wealthy are benefiting.
Product sells for $10. After tariffs of $2 it sells for $14.
You pay $2 tariff and $2 convenient price hike. Company makes $2 for hiking price more than value of tariff.
Company requests refund for $2, company made $4 total.
You paid $4 extra total, which the company made. It’s a completely standard transaction, money from your packet to company’s. And more tax money will be wasted for the costs of processing the refunds.
Company brings price down to $12, you’re still overpaying, and are you necessarily buying that product again?
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.
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.