A Costco customer has filed a class action lawsuit against the wholesale retailer in an attempt to force the company to refund customers who paid higher prices for imported goods as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The lawsuit, filed in an Illinois federal court Wednesday, seeks to compel Costco to pass along refunds to customers that it may obtain from the government after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs.
Costco, along with hundreds of other businesses, has asked the U.S. Court of International Trade to force the government to begin issuing refunds for costs that it had to absorb, or pass along to consumers, because the president instituted a 10 percent global tariff and country-specific tariffs last year.
But Matthew Stockov, an Illinois resident and Costco member, wants a cut of the refund after purchasing electronics, food products, household items and more from the wholesaler “at prices inflated by Costco’s pass-through of IEEPA tariff costs.”
The Independent has asked Costco for comment.
For 10 months, U.S. businesses were forced to pay higher prices for imported goods after Trump unlawfully enacted tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) – which gives the president the authority to regulate commerce, but not enact tariffs, in emergency declarations.
Trump had asserted the tariffs were necessary to balance trade deficits with some of the U.S.'s largest trading partners – which he deemed a national security threat.
Largely, the tariffs were poorly received, with many economists warning that raising import costs would mean companies would likely raise consumer prices, thus passing along the higher costs to customers. However, Trump consistently denied this.
After collecting roughly $166 billion, thousands of lawsuits have been filed seeking refunds.
While some large businesses, such as FedEx, have vowed to refund customers if they obtain a refund from the government, other consumers, such as Stockov, are taking matters into their own hands.
“Costco has made no commitment to return any portion of anticipated tariff refunds to the consumers who bore those costs,” Stockov said, adding that customers are “entitled to restitution” for overcharges they paid.
Costco CEO Ron Vachris said on the company’s earnings call last week that it was unclear when, or if, the company would receive a refund, but that it was committed to returning the value to Costco members through lower prices and better values.
“As we’ve done in the past, when legal challenges have recovered charges ... our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value to our members through lower prices and better values,” Vachris said.
The Trump administration has made it clear it wants to maintain global tariffs through a different avenue. Already, Trump has enacted a temporary 15 percent global tariff.
But members of the administration have floated other ways of keeping tariffs, currently opening investigations into foreign manufacturing to determine whether America’s largest trading partners are participating in unfair trade practices.
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