There’s no way to know how much extra you or I have paid, but a couple of organizations, the Tax Foundation and Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee have come up with numbers ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 per family. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have demanded refunds of at least $1,700 per household for their residents.
While there are multiple studies that show American importers and consumers have borne roughly 90% of the burden of the IEEPA tariffs, which the court struck down in its 6-3 decision Friday, none of the studies break down how much was passed on from the importers to the consumer.
Legally, the refunds are owed to the thousands of importers who have filed suit and thousands more who will apply for the refunds because of the decision. Consumers are not owed a refund as a result of the decision. Importers are. Consumers are not.
That doesn’t mean consumers – well, some consumers – won’t be the beneficiaries of the ruling. Even before the ruling, President Trump was talking about sending out $2,000 refunds to consumers of “moderate income.” Congress will no doubt want in on that, although Democrats and Republicans will spin the refund differently to match their own agendas.
Ralph Bristol is the former long-time morning talk radio host broadcasting on Supertalk 99.7 WTN. He was one of the less provocative and bombastic of conservative radio personalities, more thoughtful and grounded in conservative ideas. He left talk radio in 2018 and retired. He lives in Nashville.
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