Dean Terence Lau recently spoke with NPR on tariff refunds, noting the different approaches being taken by shipping companies, such as UPS and FedEx, and retailers.
Shipping companies are passing the refunds directly to the consumer. “They are absolutely obligated to return it to the person they collected it from. Otherwise, it would be a pretty open-and-shut lawsuit against them for unjust enrichment.”
But with retailers, it is more difficult to figure out how much a consumer paid in tariffs.
“It's like the retailer stirred the tax into the batter. So once it's cooked into the cake, you can't just back it out ingredient by ingredient anymore because it's not separated,” said Lau.