President Donald Trump signaled last month that he would be accommodating to companies that don’t seek tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping global obligations.
Initially, some major companies Amazon Trump appears to have put his request for a refund on hold over concerns it would offend the transaction-heavy president and end up in his crosshairs, CNBC reported earlier this year. However, some of the largest US companies are currently walmart to apple They made sure to pursue what was owed, no matter the consequences.
home depot, general motors, john deere, fedex and costco Other major U.S. companies have also said they are seeking refunds. The move may not result in a major change in how companies handle their relationships with President Trump. Still, it provides a major example of their willingness to publicly break with the president after he told CNBC that he would “remember” if companies decided not to seek refunds.
There are strong business incentives for filing, and often fiduciary duties as well. Major companies have the opportunity to potentially recoup billions of dollars and maximize returns to shareholders.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a court filing earlier this month that more than $35 billion in refunds have already been processed and are being transferred to businesses’ bank accounts. In total, the government has approximately $166 billion in repayment obligations.
“I remember them”
During President Trump’s appearance on “Squawk Box” last month, CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin said that Apple was among the companies that at the time had put refund requests on hold for obvious concerns about offending the president. In response, President Trump said, “It would be great if they didn’t do that.”
“Actually, if they didn’t do that, they should know me better,” he said. “I am very honored by what you just said.”
“If they don’t, I’ll remember them,” Trump said.
The comments sent ripples across Washington, with lobbyists and business groups saying they initially made some importers wonder whether to apply for the amount they would have to pay. Companies are trying to parse what exactly the president’s remarks meant and whether and how the administration might retaliate for moving forward with the process.
But that threat hasn’t deterred America’s biggest companies from trying to recoup what they paid in tariffs. U.S. retail giant Walmart, for example, drew the ire of President Trump last year when it said it might have to raise prices in response to tariffs, and the president told the retailer to “ignore the tariffs” and warned it would “watch it.”
In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Walmart’s finance chief, John David Rainey, confirmed that the company is applying for a refund of the money it paid in so-called IEEPA tariffs, but he doesn’t expect to make much of a profit even if it does.
“We took advantage of the option to participate in these refunds. For us, it’s a relatively small part of the overall business,” Rainey said when discussing the company’s first-quarter results. “To be eligible for these refunds, you have to be an importer of record. For us, as an importer of record, that’s about half of 1% of our U.S. sales.”
In its most recent full year of 2026, Walmart US had net sales of $483 billion, so half of 1% would total about $2.42 billion. That total is larger than the annual revenue of many companies, but Rainey said it is of little significance for a company whose total revenue last year exceeded $713 billion.
Still, he says, “every little thing counts.”
“We will prioritize refunds where they can be used to invest in pricing for our customers,” he said. “Given the current climate, with both the stress on consumers and maintaining the stock price appreciation we have seen, we recognize that the best ROI for that capital is to invest it in prices for our customers.”
Walmart is one of the companies that said it could try to use that money to benefit its customers, even if indirectly. Introducing refund schemes to keep prices low for consumers has been a theme among businesses applying for refund schemes.
“The number one thing we hear about the use case is that this will help us avoid price increases as quickly as we thought we needed them,” said Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “That’s hard to telegraph, but it’s true.”
Walmart confirmed Thursday that it is seeking refunds after Target Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee said Wednesday that the company is “in the process” of refunds. Richard MacPhail, Home Depot’s finance director, also said Tuesday that the retailer had applied and “so far we have received a small amount of money.”
“We have been assuming that that could lead to a significant offset of these (tariff) costs,” he told analysts.
Representatives from influential business groups say some companies are looking for ways to use the refunds in ways that appease both the White House and their customers. Apple, for example, has said since President Trump’s comments that it has applied for a refund of tariffs.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said on a call with analysts last month that the company plans to reinvest the money back into “America’s innovation and advanced manufacturing,” a key priority of President Trump.
Meanwhile, other major companies have remained silent on whether they will try to recover their tariff payments.
Amazon, which was sued last week in a class action lawsuit over its decision not to issue refunds, did not respond to requests for comment on whether it would issue refunds.
Some people are not ready to accept any form of refund plan. On Wednesday, Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison did not say whether the retailer would apply.
“We’re just monitoring the situation,” Ellison said. “While we have not spoken publicly about whether we have applied for a refund, we understand that when duty refunds are issued, they apply to everyone, and what we have done is pay close attention to the situation, so we are currently trying to determine if and when refunds will be issued.”
