Tariffs have considerably impacted U.S. businesses since early 2025, and while possible refunds may be on some executives’ minds, Costco appears to be thinking about its customers first.
Costco CEO Ron Vachris said during an earnings call on March 5, that the company would return any recovered tariff charges to its members “through lower prices and better values.”
“As we’ve done in the past, when legal challenges have recovered charges passed on in some form to our members, our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value to our members,” Vachris added.
Despite the promise, Varchis warned that the “future impact of tariffs remains extremely fluid,” and that “it is not yet clear what the process will be, what refunds, if any, will be received, and when this will happen.”
During the same call, Costco executives said the company did not pass the full cost of tariffs to its consumers via increased prices; instead, it absorbed much of the tariff costs.
The comments from the Costco CEO come only days after a U.S. trade court judge ordered the government to begin paying potentially billions of dollars in refunds to importers who paid tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled last month were collected illegally.
Costco and others sue for refunds
Costco, as well as other companies like Walmart, FedEx, Staples and L’Oréal, have sued the federal government to get refunds for tariff duties already paid.
Costco’s lawsuit, filed Nov. 28 in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, and reviewed by USA TODAY, asks the court to find Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs unlawful.
Costco, the largest warehouse club operator in the United States, said it had been the “importer of record” for products affected by the tariffs, but did not provide a specific dollar amount it was seeking in damages.
In court records, Costco said the lawsuit against the federal government was necessary as importers were not guaranteed a refund if the Supreme Court were to strike down the tariffs, a move that came to fruition last month.
Contributing: Reuters
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Costco says members may see lower prices if tariff refunds are issued
Reporting by Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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