Over 40 S&P 500 firms report $9.6 billion in tariff refunds

CBP has accepted $128.7 billion in tariff refund applications since Supreme Court ruling

Tariff refunds are flowing to large U.S. companies after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a cornerstone of President Trump’s tariff policy earlier this year, with more than 40 S&P 500 firms reporting roughly $9.6 billion in refunds, of which at least $2.1 billion had already been received in cash. Many companies appear to have received the money with remarkable speed, contrary to warnings that the disbursement process could prove slow and messy.

Apple alone has reported nearly $2.2 billion in refunds, far outpacing other recipients. Nike disclosed $986 million, FedEx about $800 million, Amazon $640 million and General Motors $500 million. Technology hardware companies have reported $2.5 billion in refunds across half a dozen firms, with Apple accounting for nearly 90% of that total, while more than a dozen capital-goods companies reported about $1.3 billion combined, including Caterpillar, Deere ($272 million), Lockheed Martin ($140 million over six months) and Stanley Black & Decker ($118 million).

The reported figures do not always represent cash in the bank. Some companies have reflected likely payments in their financial statements even before the money has arrived. Zebra Technologies, which makes bar-code scanners and printers, concluded in its second quarter that it was likely to receive a refund of all $73 million in past tariff payments. By the end of its quarter ended July 4, the company had received $14 million in cash but booked the remainder as a receivable; by July 31, Zebra said, it had received another $27 million in payments.

For several companies, the refunds have contributed handily to quarterly results. Apple said its tariff refunds contributed 11 cents of per-share earnings in the most recent quarter, roughly 5% of the quarter’s total. GE HealthCare Technologies said tariff refunds contributed 18 cents of the $1.24 a share it reported in earnings for the quarter ended June 30, on $107 million in received refunds with $38 million more expected.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency processing the refunds, had received just over 252,000 refund applications as of July 31 and had accepted $128.7 billion in refunds for processing, an agency official told a federal court last week. The customs agency is sending the collected duties to Treasury for disbursement.

A number of the major recipients have said they plan to share the windfall with their customers. FedEx said it would start disbursing its $800 million in refunds to shippers and consumers in August, and told customers they could track the status of their tariff refunds on the company’s website. FedEx described itself as “a pass-through for customers” required to collect duties and taxes.

Costco, which faces consumer class-action lawsuits over its collection of tariffs, has said it plans to pass refunds to customers “in some form” and at levels similar to the tariff costs it had previously passed on. The company cautioned that the federal refund process on its own could take months. IDEX said it expected to rebate $14.7 million to customers — roughly two-thirds of the more than $20 million it received.

Amazon, by contrast, said it had identified only a “limited set of circumstances” in which it could trace the cost of tariffs passed on to customers, and would contact those customers to issue refunds once it received the cash. Chief Financial Officer Brian T. Olsavsky told a July earnings call: “Otherwise, we’ll utilize refunds to continue to invest in low prices for customers.”

For many companies, the refunds do not erase the broader cost of tariffs they continue to pay. Caterpillar recorded $392 million in expected tariff recoveries in the most recent quarter and does not expect to book more in 2026, but said it expects to incur a total of $2.2 billion in tariff payments for the year, not considering the recoveries. Ford Motor said it expects around $3 billion in tariff reimbursement from the federal government and suppliers combined, of which about $1.3 billion stems from the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the emergency tariffs.

Nike, which had reported its refunds earlier in the year, said it received $302 million in refunds in the final quarter of its fiscal year ended May 31 and almost all of the remaining $684 million by July 15, when it issued its annual report to shareholders. Fortive, which makes industrial-measurement equipment and automation technology, recognized a $4.5 million benefit for tariff refunds received but said it expected up to $25 million more in coming periods.