Illinois Lawmaker Presses for Consumer Paybacks As Trump …

The Trump administration has refunded approximately $100 billion to importers from its canceled tariff scheme, representing about 60% of the total refunds owed. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is projected to refund $166 billion under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). While refunds began in May following a Supreme Court ruling declaring the tariffs illegal, consumers who bore 90% of the burdens via price increases are upset that companies like Nike and Amazon are receiving refunds. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is advocating for direct payments to consumers and has urged support for legislation mandating reimbursement to customers for refunds received by companies.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration has refunded about $100 billion in revenue from its dismantled “reciprocal” tariff scheme—about 60 percent of the total owed to importers by the federal government.

The figure was reported in a Tuesday filing in the United States Court of International Trade by Brandon Lord, executive director of the Trade Programs Directorate at Customs and Border Protection. In total, CBP is expected to refund around $166 billion to importers that paid into expansive global duties levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in April 2025.

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Those duties were deemed illegal by the Supreme Court in late February, and refunds began rolling out in May following the launch of CBP’s Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries ( CAPE) system, an online platform for refund request and disbursements.

According to Lord’s filing this week, CAPE had received 252,496 tariff refund declarations covering more than 25 million import entries as of July 31. Approximately $128.68 billion in both potential and certified refunds have been accepted for processing within the CAPE portal, and of that amount, $100 billion have been completed, certified and sent to the Treasury Department to be disbursed.

Though that staggering amount has left the Treasury’s coffers, it’s not necessarily going back into the pockets of those who paid the tariffs.

Together, U.S. shoppers and businesses bore 90 percent of the cost burden created by the tariffs. But consumers have been increasingly voicing their displeasure at the fact that retailers and brands—the importers of record—are receiving refunds for duties that were passed along, in the form of price increases, to them.

While companies have cashed out their refunds— Nike is said to have received about $300 million, and is expecting to see $1 billion by the end of the year, while Amazon got $600 million in paybacks— consumers aren’t seeing the returns. There are varying estimates on how much Americans paid in tariffs last year, with the Tax Foundation saying the average household paid around $1,000 and the Yale Budget Lab and Joint Economic Committee placing the number between $1,745 and $2,000.

Some lawmakers have gotten involved on behalf of their constituents, imploring the federal government to return the money to constituents directly.

On Thursday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote an open letter to President Donald Trump following up on an invoice sent to the federal government in February, following the Supreme Court decision.

“On February 20th, I sent you an invoice for $8,679,261,600. It was past-due then. 165 days later, it still is,” the governor wrote.

Pritzker requested that the Treasury establish a mechanism for direct payments to American households, estimating that each is owed about $1,700 in IEEPA tariff refunds.

He also requested that the Commander in Chief support the Tariff Relief for Consumers Act, which would compel corporations that receive hefty refunds to pass them along to consumers. The legislation, introduced in March by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), targets companies that receive more than $5 million in tariff refunds with a requirement to provide equal financial relief to shoppers on essential items in the form of rebates and discounts.

“Third,” Pritzker wrote to the president, “stop searching for new sham legal arguments to do the same thing again. Reimposing these taxes under a different section of the code does not make them less of a tax on the people of Illinois.”

Trump’s most recent effort to re-impose duties on American importers under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 has already faced legal challenges. Several small businesses and 25 states have sued the federal government over the duties, which they believe were unlawfully applied.

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