Ranking Member Markey Again Calls on Big Businesses to Pay Back Customers and Small Businesses for Trump’s Tariff Taxes

Largest U.S. retailers and shippers have offered no firm commitment to refund customers beyond what is legally required

Letters (PDF)

(Washington, April 24) -?Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) called on the largest retailers and shippers in the country again, urging them to pass tariff refunds on to consumers and small businesses that bore the brunt of President Trump's illegal?International Emergency Economic Powers Act?(IEEPA) tariffs, which were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.

On March 12, Ranking Member Markey wrote letters to Amazon, Federal Express (FedEx), Wal-Mart, Costco, DHL, and United Parcel Service (UPS). In their responses, many companies offered no firm commitment to refund their customers for IEEPA tariffs paid.?

In the letters, Ranking Member Markey wrote, "Since I first wrote to you, important developments have made this request more urgent and more actionable. On Monday, April 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) opened its new Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) portal through which companies can submit refund claims for illegally collected IEEPA tariffs. With this portal now operational, your company can now submit its claim for tariff refunds. The question that now demands a clear and prompt answer is: What concrete steps will your company take to pass those refunds on to the consumers and small businesses who paid for the tariffs in the first place?

Ranking Member Markey continued, "Several companies have already pledged to return tariff refunds to their customers. Your company's customers deserve no less. Now that the refund process has been initiated, I ask that you move promptly and transparently to do so."

Ranking Member Markey requested answers to the following questions by May 13, 2026:

1. What is the total amount of refunds, including interest, that your company expects to receive?
2. What specific steps has your company taken, or does it plan to take, to refund IEEPA tariff payments to the small businesses and customers who originally bore those costs?
3. If your company has not yet committed to issuing refunds to customers, what factors are you weighing in making that decision, and by what date do you expect to announce your policy?
4. How will your company notify customers who may be eligible for tariff-related refunds about the availability of those refunds and the process for claiming them?
5. If any portion of the tariff refunds your company receives will not be returned to customers and small businesses, please explain why and describe how those funds will instead be used.

Ranking Member Markey is leading the fight to lower costs for American small businesses, workers, and families. He is fighting to deliver immediate and automatic refunds to small businesses and prevent the Trump administration from placing more tariff taxes on the American people.?

• Earlier this week, Ranking Member Markey reiterated his call for CBP?to?implement?a simple, automatic?refund process?as the Trump administration launched?CBP's?online?refund payment system, which small businesses already have reported issues with.
• Earlier this month, Ranking Member Markey, Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released?a report?on Trump's harmful "Liberation Day" tariffs one year later.?
• In March, Ranking Member Markey led several Senate Democrats?in writing to?CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott to call for an automatic tariff refund process that does not create more pain for American small businesses and families.?
• Earlier in March, Ranking Member Markey?wrote?to Amazon, FedEx, Wal-Mart, Costco, DHL, and UPS, urging the companies to pass tariff refunds on to consumers and small businesses. In their responses, companies offered no firm commitment to refund their customers beyond what is legally required.?
• Also?in March, Ranking Member Markey, alongside Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats,?introduced?the?Small Business Liberation 2.0 Act?to protect small business owners, workers, and consumers from further tariff-related economic harm under Trump's Section 122 tariffs.?
• Previously, Ranking Member?Markey?sent a letter?to Trump administration officials renewing his call for a tariff refund process and demanding an investigation into?reports?that Wall Street traders are taking advantage of Main Street by paying America's small businesses pennies on the dollar for tariff rebates in the absence of an official refund process.?
• In February, Ranking Member Markey?introduced?the?Tariff Refund Act of 2026?with Ranking Member Wyden and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to require full refunds of Trump's illegal tariffs after they were struck down by the Supreme Court.?
• Earlier in February, Ranking Member Markey?applauded?the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision to strike down Trump's illegal tariffs, held a?press conference?with Massachusetts small business owners, and called for immediate refunds for America's small businesses.?
• Previously, Ranking Member Markey?released?a report?detailing how Trump's affordability crisis, including his devastating tariffs, are hurting main streets and working families across America.?
• In?December 2025, Ranking Member Markey held a press conference on the affordability crisis facing American small businesses and released?new state-by-state data?on total tariffs paid by small businesses from March to September 2025.?
• In?November 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent a?letter?to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Acting Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Pierre Yared to renew his call for?an equitable?tariff refund process for small businesses.?
• Also in November 2025, Ranking Member Markey?held?a press conference to highlight the voices of small business owners?impacted?by Trump's devastating tariffs, and to call on the Supreme Court to strike down the tariffs.?
• Last Fall, Ranking Member Markey held a press conference to highlight the voices of small business owners?impacted?by Trump's tariffs. Ranking Member Markey introduced the?Small Business RELIEF Act?in September 2025, which exempts small businesses from the "Liberation Day" tariffs and requires the President to provide refunds to small businesses who have paid them.?
• In August 2025, Ranking Member Markey sent a?letter?to Administrator Loeffler, Secretary Lutnick, Representative Greer, and CEA Chair Stephen Miran, calling on their respective agencies to?establish?and publicize procedures for refunding tariffs to American businesses.?
• In May 2025, Ranking Member Markey?first attempted?to pass the Small Business Liberation Act, legislation that would exempt small businesses from the broad, reckless global tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Ranking Member Markey?returned?to the Senate floor?in an effort to?pass the?Small Business Liberation Act?in August. Republicans blocked his legislation on the Senate floor on both occasions.?

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