Shoppers filed a class-action lawsuit Friday against Amazon.com Inc, demanding the retail giant return money they paid through increased prices during tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court later declared illegal.
The federal lawsuit, filed in Seattle, claims Amazon gathered hundreds of millions of dollars through unlawful tariff charges by increasing prices on imported products before the high court made its ruling.
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Donald Trump exceeded his legal authority when he used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to implement his broad tariff program.
Following that decision, thousands of businesses have started pursuing billions in government refunds.
However, Amazon has chosen not to seek these refunds, which the lawsuit claims is “not because it lacks a legal basis to do so, but because it seeks to curry favor with Trump by allowing the federal government to retain the funds.”
“The problem is that the funds Amazon is using to stay in the President’s good graces do not belong to Amazon,” the court filing states. “These funds were wrongfully taken from consumers to cover IEEPA Tariffs that have since been invalidated.”
The legal action includes charges of unjust enrichment and violations of Washington state’s consumer-protection law.
Amazon has not provided a response to requests for comment.
This case joins other similar lawsuits filed by customers against various companies, including Costco, Nike, and FedEx, for not returning tariff refunds to shoppers.
The lawsuit points out that while importing companies can request tariff refunds from the government, individual consumers cannot recover the additional costs they paid during the tariff period.
To back up claims that political motivations influenced Amazon’s decision, the lawsuit references an April 2025 incident where the company received White House criticism after reports suggested it might show tariff costs on product listings.
Amazon refuted those reports and stated it never planned to display tariff prices on its retail platform. However, the reports led Trump to contact Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos with complaints, according to the lawsuit.
