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Should we all be getting tariff refunds right now?

Planet MoneyOctober 9, 202630m 3s

After the Supreme Court struck down certain Trump-era tariffs, the U.S. government began refunding billions to companies that paid them, but consumers who were charged those tariffs upfront are largely not receiving refunds. The episode follows Amy Choi's purchase of a Playdate video game console that included a $14.02 tariff line item, and explores how different companies are (or aren't) passing tariff refunds back to consumers.

Summary

Planet Money explores the question of whether consumers should be receiving tariff refunds following the Supreme Court's November 2025 ruling that struck down IEEPA tariffs as an inappropriate use of presidential emergency powers. The U.S. government has been refunding approximately $122-170 billion in tariffs collected from companies, but the critical issue is whether those companies will pass refunds to the consumers who ultimately paid the tariffs.

The episode centers on listener Amy Choi's experience purchasing a Playdate—a niche handheld video game console made by Panic, a small Portland-based software company with 25 employees. When Amy ordered her Playdate for $229 in 2025, she was charged an explicit $14.02 tariff line item at checkout. Panic's CEO Cable Sasser had included a lengthy hyperlinked explanation of the tariff situation, but Amy didn't click on it.

Panic faced a difficult business decision when tariffs increased manufacturing costs by 10-20% (roughly $12-24 per unit with a $120 manufacturing cost). After initially absorbing $100,000 in tariff costs, they decided to pass tariffs along to customers as a separate line item rather than hide them in price increases. This transparency created both business pressure and ethical dilemma for the company.

When the Supreme Court struck down these tariffs, Panic received approximately $200,000 in refunds. After internal debate, Cable Sasser and the company's team decided to refund the tariff charges back to customers automatically, with Amy receiving her $14.02 back within days of the notification email. The episode notes this appears to be an exceptionally rare occurrence—Planet Money's call-out for tariff refund experiences received almost no reports of consumers actually receiving money back from companies.

The episode explores how different gaming companies handled the tariff refund situation: Panic refunded everything transparently, Nintendo offered a 30% discount sale on games instead of direct refunds (more practical given their complex distribution), and Sony and Microsoft refused to pass refunds back to consumers despite raising prices during the tariff period, arguing that consumers agreed to the higher prices and didn't ask questions about the causes.

Trade attorney Maureen Thorson explains the structural challenges: while the government's refund process for companies is relatively straightforward (submitting spreadsheets to U.S. Customs), passing money back to consumers is complicated. For delivery companies (UPS, FedEx, DHL), refunds are more feasible since they directly charged customers delivery fees with tariffs. But for companies that raised prices generally or incorporated tariffs into overall pricing, untangling which price increases were tariff-related versus inflation or supply chain issues is practically difficult and likely unrealistic.

About this episode

Companies are getting billions of dollars back. How about us? It seems simple, right? We paid higher prices for imported goods because of tariffs. Then the tariffs were ruled illegal. Courts said the money paid to the U.S. government had to be refunded. Companies are getting that money now. It would seem like we, the customers, should get paid back, too. But … it’s not so simple. Once again, we’re dipping back into the drama of import tax law. We’re engrossed in the ups, downs, betrayal, and romance of … the Days of our Tariffs. In this edition: “Refunds and Regrets.” How and why some companies and people are getting their IEEPA tariff refunds and other people are out of luck. Live Show: - <a href="https://kilkenomics.com/" target="_blank">Planet Money Live at Kilkenomics. Kilkenny, Ireland Nov. 6th - 7th</a> Read Planet Money: - Our book: <a href="https://lnk.to/i3AukBdD" target="_blank">Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life</a> - Our weekly longform <a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB" target="_blank">Planet Money newsletter</a> - Our weekly <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/indicator" target="_blank">Indicator round-up newsletter</a> Follow Planet Money: - <a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws" target="_blank">Instagram</a> - <a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq" target="_blank">TikTok</a> - <a href="https://lnk.to/iCVDaW3C" target="_blank">YouTube</a> - <a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Listen to more Planet Money: - Our short, daily podcast, <a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510325/the-indicator-from-planet-money" target="_blank">The Indicator from Planet Money</a> - Over 1,000 episodes in <a href="https://app.npr.org/aggregation/510289" target="_blank">our archive on the NPR App</a> Merch: - <a href="https://shopnpr.org/search?q=planet+money&options%5Bprefix%5D=last" target="_blank">NPR Shop</a> - The Planet Money game, <a href="https://shopnpr.org/products/planet-moneys-sell-me-a-sasquatch-board-game?_pos=1&_sid=c2996cc29&_ss=r" target="_blank">Sell Me A Sasquatch</a> Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at<a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank"> plus.npr.org</a>. This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and James Sneed. It was edited by our executive producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Cena Loffredo. Special thanks this week to everyone who wrote in with a tale of tariff drama. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Key Insights

Panic charged customers an explicit $14.02 tariff line item on every Playdate purchase, making it unusually easy to track and eventually refund compared to companies that hid tariffs in general price increases.
After absorbing approximately $100,000 in tariff costs for several months, Panic decided they could not continue to eat the costs and needed to pass tariffs to customers, forcing a conscious business decision rather than a passive one.
Cable Sasser, Panic's CEO, acknowledged that the company could have kept the approximately $200,000 in tariff refunds without customers noticing, but decided this was not the right thing to do after team discussion.
As of early September 2025, $122 billion in tariff refunds had been paid to companies, but the government does not publicly disclose which companies or how many received refunds.
UPS, FedEx, and DHL are implementing systems to refund tariffs to consumers who paid delivery fees with tariffs included, though some technical issues are occurring during implementation.
Sony and Microsoft explicitly refused to pass tariff refunds to consumers despite raising console prices during the tariff period, arguing that consumers agreed to those prices at purchase.
Trade attorney Maureen Thorson stated there is 'no usually' for how tariff refunds should work because this situation is so novel and unprecedented in U.S. trade policy.
Panic's decision to refund customers appears to be essentially unique, with Planet Money receiving almost no other reports of consumers actually receiving tariff refunds from companies despite calling out for examples.

Topics

Tariff refunds and consumer eligibilitySupreme Court IEEPA tariff rulingPlaydate video game console tariff case studyCorporate responsibility and refund decisionsDistribution channel complexity and tariff pass-throughDelivery company tariff refund systemsTrade attorney perspectives on refund logistics

Transcript

Support comes from our 2026 lead sponsor of Planet Money, Amazon Business. You can't rely on guesswork to run your business. With smart business buying, innovative AI tools optimize your purchasing experience paired with delivery options. Empower your team today. More at amazonbusiness.com. This is Planet Money from NPR. Shouldn't we all be getting tariff refunds right now? Because I have not received one, even though I, and likely you, listener, paid more in general for goods as a U.S. consumer because the companies selling us those goods had to pay tariffs. And now a ton of those tariffs have been struck down by the Supreme Court, the U.S. government has started to pay billions in tariff refunds to companies…

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