Some companies and businesses awaiting tariff refunds from the Trump administration have reportedly sold the rights to their owed funds to third parties in exchange for quick cash.
Over the last year, GoPro, American Eagle Outfitters, The Children’s Place and other companies have struck deals with buyers offering cash in exchange for the rights to multi-million dollar tariff refunds, the Wall Street Journal and Retail Dive reported.
American Eagle Outfitters, for example, sold $68.9 million of its tariff refund claims in exchange for $18.6 million in cash, the company said in its 2026 Q1 report.
The agreements have given companies an extra boost while waiting for the rollout of refunds, after suffering major losses from President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which imposed fees on nearly every one of the U.S.’s trading partners.
The Children’s Place, which reported paying approximately $40 million in Trump’s tariffs, said in its Q1 report that it had agreed to give Alnus Investors $38.2 million in its tariff claims in exchange for $25.7 million.
Some of the companies, such as GoPro, reached deals with third-party buyers even before the Supreme Court intervened in Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported.
GoPro, which paid an estimated $20.2 million in Trump’s tariffs, sold $19.4 million of its potential claims to a third party in February, before the Supreme Court ruled.
“For the seller, a lot of the risk is purely the economics of that transaction because of the uncertainty on exactly when an importer will receive their tariff refund,” David Wong, the managing principal at BDO, a large accounting and financial advisory firm, told Retail Dive.
Wong said companies have to consider whether they want to receive potentially less money, faster from a third party, or wait longer for a refund that could be more money.
Last year, Academy Sports & Outdoors sold a portion of its tariff claims in exchange for roughly $10.5 million, the company said in its Q1 filing. By selling a portion of its claims, it can still request some tariff refund from the government.
While the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs brought under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in February, the process of requesting and then obtaining tariff refunds has been arduous.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is overseeing the tariff refund rollout, launched an online portal for companies to request money back.
As of the end of July, the government had returned roughly $100 billion in tariffs, representing 60 percent of the $166 billion the Trump administration took in.
Even though the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s sweeping tariffs were unlawful under IEEPA, the president is still seeking to impose tariffs on trading partners.
Recently, Trump imposed tariffs under a section of the Trade Act of 1974 that is meant to combat discriminatory economic practices. A group of small businesses and at least 25 states have sued the administration seeking to stop the latest round of tariffs.
