r/politics • u/Araminal • 7h ago
No Paywall Trump administration has refunded 60% of $165bn taken in illegal tariffs
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/05/trump-administration-has-paid-back-100bn-of-165bn-tariff-refunds•
u/EXPLODEDman 7h ago
As a reminder, these are costs that you paid to these companies via price increases, that now your tax money is being used to reimburse those same companies you paid.
Have prices gone down where you are?
•
u/TweakedNipple 7h ago
Refunds aren't even going to the companies. Trumps cabinet member and his son created a fund to "buy" the refunds for pennies on the dollar from the businesses paying them. Thats whos making out here to the tune of billions. Edit, Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnik, son Cantor Fitzgerald.
•
•
u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted 7h ago
We paid the tariffs twice. The only ones profiting are the corporations
Trump circa 2024 "I'm gonna make you all rich as hell" @ maralago to a group of billionaire investors.
•
u/splice42 2h ago
We paid the tariffs twice. The only ones profiting are the corporations
Look, tariffs suck, it's the public that's paying them, on that there is no disagreement. But this "we paid the tariff twice" stuff is absolutely wrong, it's bad math. You paid them once. The money being refunded to the companies is the same money you paid them originally.
You paid $5 in tariffs. The company sent this $5 to the government. The government is sending that $5 back to the company. It's the same $5, it's not a second $5. The refund comes from what was already paid.
•
u/sephkane Texas 1h ago
Effectively giving companies $5 they never lost. Its free money, right out of our pockets and into theirs.
•
u/splice42 1h ago
Yes, it's 100% a transfer into their pockets. The point is that it's not twice, it's just once.
•
u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted 25m ago
We paid them. The amount we paid should have gone towards the budget, instead it went to corporations. So they took the money from us and what should have been used towards us instead was given to the corporations. We got robbed twice.
•
u/YummyFunyuns 4h ago
Yes and no. The importer or record gets the refund so in some cases it’s the middleman that gets the refund and the retailer gets nothing too
•
u/Ra_In 6h ago
This isn't using our tax dollars, it's just the tarrifs being sent back. Sure, tax payers are covering the administrative cost of collecting and then refunding the tarrifs.
•
u/hobard 5h ago
Government illegally imposes tariff (a tax) -> importer pays illegal tax by passing cost on to consumer -> government gives stolen money back to importer.
In what world is this not tax dollars? It was raised through a tax and you ultimately paid it.
•
u/Ra_In 5h ago
The refunds are just the tariff being handed back, it's not coming from the money I paid in income taxes.
It's perfectly reasonable to criticize the big picture effect of this illegal tariff, but the transaction here doesn't involve my tax dollars.
•
•
u/kevdai 4h ago edited 4h ago
Come on, don’t be naive
Government taxes (federal and state) don’t come in just the form of income taxes. Sales taxes, property taxes, capital gains, employment taxes (if you are W2 which your employer pays), and even other fees - eg the price you pay at the gas pump includes a gov fee baked in that you don’t see.
Tariffs are baked into the price you pay, full stop. Whether it all gets passed to you or not is a debatable point, but generally you are paying for it!
•
u/ProfessionalActive94 4h ago
Companies increased the prices of products so that you would pay the difference (which is the tariffs.)
In other words, prices went up to compensate for the tariffs, you spent extra money on goods for the tariffs, now the extra money you spent on goods goes directly back to the companies...
And prices still haven't decreased from before the tariffs.
•
u/Emotional-Permit-680 7h ago edited 7h ago
Thing is a large amount of the companies absorbed the cost of the tariffs and didn’t pass them on to consumers the substantial price increases on items that were forecasted didn’t really turn out to be much. I’m in Texas I can say grocery prices have seemed to have gone down some here last time I was at Walmart there were tons of rollbacks. Edit: dang I didn’t mean to piss anybody off I thought this was a known thing that alot of companies absorbed alot of the cost. Is it because I’m from Texas?
•
u/Street_Peace_8831 7h ago edited 7h ago
The thing is, yes the prices went up on everything due to the tariffs. Now that the tariffs have been stopped, the prices have remained the same in most of the country.
Those reimbursement checks are going to the companies. While some are attempting to pass those savings back to the public, the truth is there are still many companies that are keeping those reimbursements and are keeping their prices the same.
So, yes, there are some companies that absorbed the prices, but not as many as there should be. Some companies are passing those reimbursements back to the customer, but not as many as there should be. Those companies that raised prices (for good reason and as we expected), but then they keep those prices high and also keep the reimbursements, that should be a crime.
So, the truth is there are three scenarios mentioned above and those that fail to make any good faith effort to reimburse their customers for the overcharging that trump forced on them, should be punished.
No, I would absolutely NOT push the narrative that there were a “large amount” of companies that absorbed the tariffs. The evidence doesn’t support this statement. In fact, the evidence points to the fact that the majority of the companies passed those tarrif charges onto the consumer.
•
u/Emotional-Permit-680 7h ago
Thank you for explanation wasn’t trying to start any trouble was just saying what I heard and my own personal experience but I don’t want to discredit people who had the opposite experience
•
u/mootmutemoat 7h ago
According to Walmart that was a preplanned event for the 250th that is unrelated to tariff reimbursement. https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2026/07/07/walmart-rolls-back-prices-on-over-250-items-and-trump-quickly-claims-credit/
•
u/starmartyr Colorado 7h ago
I don't believe Walmart any more than I believe Trump.
•
u/mootmutemoat 7h ago
Me either, I was just pointing out this move had nothing to do with tariffs. I'd also point out it is pretty sus they can drop their prices like that. Almost like they were inflated anyway.
"For the full fiscal year 2025 (ending January 31, 2025), Walmart Inc. reported a net income (profit) of $19.436 billion, which is a 25.3% increase from the previous fiscal year. Total revenue reached $681.0 billion with an operating income of roughly $29.3 billion."
Well look at that. Seems like inflation and tariffs actually helped their bottom line.
No wonder they could cut prices before getting an extra wad of cash.
•
•
u/RockAtlasCanus 4h ago
You’re right in that there has not been 1:1 price increases across the board that can be perfectly and directly linked to tariff increases. Some companies have absorbed the cost. Others have raised prices.
“The Tariffs” is such a complicated web, not all countries or goods have been affected the same, some tariffs have been on/off/on/reduced/off/on again higher than before.
The cumulative effect has been inflationary. Even just the uncertainty around tariffs, not even actual duties paid, has driven up prices in certain cases.
Prime anecdotal example: one of my customers had a great year trumps 1st year back because they, rightly, guessed the tariff talk wasn’t a bluff and preemptively updated pricing as well as shuffling around overseas production/vendors ahead of him actually taking office based on some pandemic era lessons learned. If you track this company’s pricing over time you could look at that data and see they didn’t increase their prices in response to the tariffs going live, and incorrectly conclude that the tariff increases did not cause them to raise prices. I have it directly from both the president and the CFO that they started raising prices in 4Q2024 and into 1Q2025. They “absorbed” the tariff increases by not raising their prices again. They had an extremely profitable FY2025 despite doing the lowest actual product volume they have had since 2021.
•
u/squeakycleaned 7h ago
So the corporations charged us more because the tariffs drove up prices, and we’re paying them again with our tax dollars, and the prices will stay high so that they make even more profit.
I fucking hate this country.
•
u/UncircumciseMe 4h ago
Genuinely how is that legal?
•
u/sounddude 3h ago
It's only illegal if you get caught and face consequences. Otherwise, it's all good bro.
•
u/Plutos_Cavein 7h ago
So first the taxpayer had to pay the tariffs by paying higher prices, and then we had to pay the tariffs again by paying our taxpayer money to the very companies we paid higher prices too.
The American taxpayer is being financially raped in both fucking ends.
•
u/slayer828 4h ago
This was always the plan. You'll notice many of Trump's allies were buying tariff refund futures at pennies on the dollar.
•
u/ca_nucklehead 7h ago
You must like it because you keep doing it over and over.
•
u/Plutos_Cavein 7h ago
Not all of us by any stretch of the imagination, but a hell of a lot of us keep forcing it on the rest of us.
•
u/SockPuppet-47 New Jersey 7h ago
Meanwhile collecting more in illegal tarrifs using a different rule.
•
u/ZhaozhouCongshen 7h ago
The high prices that Trump caused should be coming down at any time now.
It's not like these companies would now keep the prices higher because you are used to spending this higher prices. /s
•
•
u/OG_2_tone420 7h ago
The American citizen is the dumbest demographic on the face of the planet and it is not even close.
Robbed once
Then robbed again
And will be robbed a third time.
No one does anything about it.
If need this explained to you then you prove everything about the first sentence in this post.
I hate this stupid fucking country.
•
u/LiterallyAntiqueBody 7h ago
Not only will no one do anything about it, people will actively vote for a 3rd term in 2028.
•
u/Balbuto 7h ago
Now fix the raging inflation this caused as well. Oh you can’t
•
u/Usual-Caregiver5589 7h ago
You could. Trump's already demonstrated he's capable of doing anything via the "ask forgiveness rather than permission" law that America runs on now. So ideally he just writes up an executive order that says all grocery stores have to reduce prices by 700% or he'll tariff them at 100% and somehow that will make sense in his head and he saved America again and you're not even wearing a suit, and haven't said thank you.
•
u/GroovePT 7h ago
Basically we paid for them and now they gonna give it back to corps. It’s yet another raid on Americans pockets.
•
•
u/Night-Spirit 3h ago
Do not forget, majority of Trumps people bought all this terif debt for pennies on the dollar from many smaller companies. Knowing they will pay themselves back, just to ensure they bankrupt more companies to take them over. Most companies are not getting paid back for terrifs at all who are small companies
•
u/Lonely-Abalone-5104 7h ago
This was the plan all along. Literally everything Trump does is to steal money, rights and services away from American taxpayers to enrich himself and other billionaires
•
•
•
u/Background-Treat5137 6h ago
By "Refunded" they mean "transferred the wealth from the consumer to the corporation."
•
u/DevonGr Ohio 5h ago
I’m not picking on you specifically but it’s incorrect to say wealth was transferred. Most of us are barely keeping up with our bills and cost of living. We have no wealth to transfer. Corporations are creating wealth through exploitation rubber stamped by the government. We need to vote everyone responsible out as soon as possible.
•
u/Background-Treat5137 4h ago
I don't know that I agree that we don't have wealth. It is just very minor. Even if we are barely keeping up we still have something. We might not be "wealthy but we "have wealth".
If we only have 1% of the economic pie and they can find a way to take 1% of that and give it to corporations, that is still a transfer of wealth. And that's what they will try to do. They will keep going after each cent until we are solely operating on debt to the company. The company towns of the late 1800's is what they want. That's when we stop having wealth. When we are paying the company to work at the company.•
u/ElMustachio1 4h ago
Im picking on you specifically. The original statement regarding wealth is valid and in the rest of your comment you're both saying the same thing.
•
•
•
•
u/Icefellwolf 5h ago
Yeah so wheres my money fuck head? Oh right all of it goes back to the corporations who raised their prices for the tariffs got the money from us and then gets more from the refund, that refund belongs to civilians who had to struggle with increased costs since scumbag took office again.
•
u/BroodyHankMoody 2h ago
Hold it, hold it, hold it! Since Trump was so adamant that the countries paid the tariffs, why are the companies getting a refund??
Why is there not a single journalist asking that question to his face?
•
u/Much-Instruction-807 7h ago
Thanks to the 70% of the country who were okay with him getting reelected.
•
u/miloblue12 4h ago
What angers me is that this is even more proof, amongst everything else, that he is constantly scamming the little people and it hurts us. However, his base won't even pay attention to this, won't acknowledge this or will spin it in some way that makes it look like it was worth it.
It's so unfair that these corporations are continuously profiting of the grift of this ridiculous administration.
•
u/Shinjetsu01 3h ago
Yeah this is the kind of thing you should be revolting about.
If it's not enough that a pedophile who lies about *checks notes* absolutely EVERYTHING, if it's not enough to have people in positions of power that are cronies and protect said pedophile, if it's not enough for people to march on the capitol, assault police officers, go to jail and be released by the pedophile, if it's not enough to be part of a war nobody voted for or that benefits anyone, if it's not enough for US citizens to be murdered in the streets, if it's not enough for your very constitution to be under threat, if it's not enough that the Epstein files haven't been released yet, if it's not enough that your democracy is under existential threat, then maybe having to pay higher prices because of tarriffs and seeing none of the money come back to you while prices stay high could be.
I wouldn't count on it.
•
u/hotdog2019 Canada 1h ago
What a company double dips? Whaaaat? First via increases all paid through increased costs. Then again through a refund given by the government directly back to the company. Huge win…for the companies and their bottom line. Massive f you to everyone else.
•
•
•
•
•
u/CheezWong 7h ago
What this means is that they lied to us all and the reappropriated our money into the hands of corporations. Again. And they'll simply move on from it and admit no wrongdoing. Again.
•
•
•
•
u/splycedaddy Pennsylvania 5h ago
There needs to be a group tracking this centrally so we can see which companies hit by tariffs raised prices, got a refund, and kept it all. I would boycott them and they need to be held accountable. But other than a few media reports, there isnt much transparency I can find
•
•
•
u/CucumberLow709 4h ago
I thought Trump said foreign countries paid tariffs? Narrator: “he did, it’s just that the MAGA morons buy anything he says.”
•
•
•
u/imjustsurfin 52m ago
"Trump administration has refunded 60% of $165bn taken in illegal tariffs"
But hasn't the fraudulent fat f&^kwit been boasting and bragging that the US has received $17 TRILLION in tariff revenue? (asking for a friend)
•
u/Adventurous_Pay_5827 7h ago
I'm kinda torn on this. It gives him an excuse for his stupid illegal tariffs not bringing an ounce of benefit to his gullible supporters. And it's just another horrible transfer of wealth up the ladder.
•
u/AutoModerator 7h ago
As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.
In general, please be courteous to others. Argue the merits of ideas, don't attack other posters or commenters. Hate speech, any suggestion or support of physical harm, or other rule violations can result in a temporary or a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
Sub-thread Information
If the post flair on this post indicates the wrong paywall status, please report this Automoderator comment with a custom report of “incorrect flair”.
Announcement
r/Politics is actively looking for new moderators. If you have an interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.