May 19, 2026
Amazon may soon have to add tariff refunds to its deliveries.
A class-action lawsuit filed in Seattle claims that the e-commerce platform owes customers “hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful tariff costs” that it has yet to claim from the government.
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These “unlawful tariffs” are the extra fees President Trump imposed on foreign goods using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump didn’t have the legal authority to enact these tariffs, which opened the floodgates for companies to demand refunds.
Although many big brands have already sought tariff reimbursements, Amazon conspicuously held back from filing claims.
Lawyers behind this class-action suit believe they know why. The lawsuit claims, “Amazon has refused to seek a refund — 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.”
As evidence, the lawsuit brought up an incident in April 2025 when Amazon allegedly “planned to start displaying how much of a product’s cost came from the IEEPA tariffs.” The suit goes on to claim the Trump administration wasn’t too happy about that idea, suggesting that President Trump gave Amazon founder Jeff Bezos a buzz to buzz off.
It’s unclear how much this lawsuit could return to customers because it only lists a general estimate of the “total amount of IEEPA duties” as of March 2026 at around “$166 billion.” Since Amazon is such a massive company, lawyers argue it likely owes “hundreds of millions of dollars” in these funds.
The consumers’ tab for tariffs
Although companies pay the price for higher tariffs, new data from the Federal Reserve shows there’s been a near “full pass-through” of tariff costs to consumers. In fact, the Fed estimates that core inflation rose by 0.8% through February 2026 solely because of tariffs.
What does that mean in dollar terms? The Tax Foundation estimates the average American household paid about $1,000 in added costs from tariffs in 2025. But according to both the Tax Foundation and the Yale Budget Lab, those costs could climb by about $700 in 2026.
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According to the recent lawsuit against Amazon, the e-commerce giant was fully aware of the burden it was placing on consumers. As the suit alleges, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy “anticipated third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace would pass the cost of the IEEPA tariffs onto consumers” back in 2025.
During his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2025, Jassy openly said that tariffs had already begun to “creep” into product prices on the website. According to Business Insider, Jassy added that, “At a certain point, because retail is, as you know, a mid-single digit operating margin business, if people’s costs go up by 10%, there aren’t a lot of places to absorb it.”
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Prime time for a payback?
Although this class-action suit means it’s possible you could get some cash from Amazon, don’t expect two-day shipping.
Class-action lawsuits can take years to resolve. According to the company MoneyPilot — which helps its subscribers find and file these claims — the expected range is anywhere between 1 to 10 years.
This case was only recently filed, so the first step is formal certification with a judge. After that, it would move to settlement discussions with Amazon or a trial.
If there’s a win for consumers, you’ll likely get a notification through your Amazon account. Just be sure to only follow info on official portals and reputable news outlets covering this case. High-profile class-action lawsuits are commonly used in phishing scams, according to the AARP.
Although a lot is up in the air about this Amazon case, there are plenty of other class-action lawsuits related to tariffs at other companies, including Costco, FedEx and UPS. For the latest details on these lawsuits, you can monitor the company’s official website or search for keywords like “tariff” on www.classaction.org.
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Eric Esposito is a freelance contributor on MoneyWise who loves making financial topics accessible and understandable to readers. In addition to MoneyWise, Eric’s work can be found in publications such as WallStreetZen and CoinDesk.
