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mhb a day ago

Since the cost was probably split between reduced profit and additional customer cost, it seems pretty impractical to determine who is due a refund - end users or businesses. Or the logistics of refunds to customers.

One possibility would be for businesses to return the fraction of the tariff paid by customers to future customers by offering the items affected with a negative tax until the refund is used up.

JKCalhoun a day ago | parent | next [-]

"Since the cost was probably split between reduced profit and additional customer cost…"

Ha ha, that's a good one. I have yet to hear about reduced profits anywhere. Instead, as I said in another comment, I have actual physical receipts with the additional tariff cost (itemized!) in a pile on my workshop (which I'll never see refunded).

pwg a day ago | parent | next [-]

If the amounts are under the limit you might sue the company who cut those invoices in small claims court for the amounts of the tariff line items on the invoices.

The invoices give you slam dunk evidence that you paid that amount in tariffs, and the supreme court decision says the payment was illegally collected, so seems like an easy win for you.

philipallstar a day ago | parent | prev [-]

> Instead, as I said in another comment, I have actual physical receipts with the additional tariff cost (itemized!) in a pile on my workshop (which I'll never see refunded).

You could ask for a tariff refund from those suppliers.

ex-aws-dude a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You're thinking way too much like a programmer

It doesn't need to be a perfect solution, you could just give everyone a flat refund similar to class action payouts.

mhb a day ago | parent [-]

Well that would seem like a potentially huge mess depending on the size of the purchases. Not to mention that the purchasers are not all easily tracked down. I wasn't suggesting it because it was perfect; I was suggesting it because it might be viable.

quickthrowman a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Since the cost was probably split between reduced profit and additional customer

As someone who prices and sells labor and material for a living, nobody ate increased tariffs. They were passed along to the ultimate consumer of the tariffed product. Everyone was facing the same tariffs so they’re all incentivized to pass the cost along, line iteming the tariffs on the invoice would make it abundantly clear. I passed along all increased costs with a note on my proposal that said “Any and all additional tariffs will be paid for by the customer.”

Larrikin a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Making people spend more money to "save" money is just a sale to increase profits even more.

wutwutwat a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That's not how capitalism works. Consumers ate the cost. Have you not bought anything in the last year?

mhb a day ago | parent [-]

Yeah. You're confusing capitalism and how businesses generally work with this particular tariff. Which, based on these comments, was often/always just passed through to customers.

wutwutwat 12 hours ago | parent [-]

That's what I just said

mhb 6 hours ago | parent [-]

I know you're being cute, but businesses generally don't pass all the costs of increased COGS on to customers.

selimthegrim a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Maybe this will finally be the impetus for the US to go for a VAT? Hell if we get a carbon based border adjustment tax out of this like people were talking about in Trump’s first term this might be a case of broken clocks.