Amazon accused of keeping hundreds of millions in tariff costs to curry favor with Trump administration

Amazon is facing a new class action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to refund tariff-related costs it passed on to consumers through higher prices in order to appease the Trump administration. Consumers allege in a proposed lawsuit filed in Seattle that the tech giant collected hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful tariff costs by raising prices on imported goods before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that President Donald Trump lacked authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose certain tariffs. While thousands of companies have sought billions of dollars in refunds from the government following the ruling, Amazon has failed to do so, the complaint states, "not because it lacks a legal basis to do so, but because it seeks to curry favor with Trump by allowing the federal government to retain the funds." The lawsuit alleges Amazon's decision to forgo recovery serves its own political and commercial interests at the direct expense of the consumers who bore the tariff costs in the first place. The complaint further states that the funds Amazon is using to stay in the President's good graces do not belong to Amazon, as they were wrongfully taken from consumers to cover IEEPA tariffs that have since been invalidated. The filing accuses Amazon of unjust enrichment and violating Washington state's consumer-protection law. The legal clash comes after consumers filed similar lawsuits against companies, including Nike and Costco, over claims they failed to pass tariff-related refunds on to customers. The lawsuit against Amazon also alleges the company faced White House pushback in April 2025 after reports surfaced that it was considering displaying how much of a product's cost stemmed from IEEPA tariffs. Amazon denied the report, saying it never considered listing tariff-related prices on its main retail site. However, the lawsuit alleges the report prompted Trump to call Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos to complain.

(Source：Fox Business)