$1,700 refund per family for the people since Trump tariffs were ruled unconstitutional

[bigtree]

Sam Stein @samstein 16m
Gov. Pritzker demands a $1,700 refund per family for the people of Illinois after Trump's tariffs were ruled unconstitutional

[MustLoveBeagles]

1. It would be nice

I doubt we'll see it

[Ritabert]

2. We'll never see it.

[bigtree]

7. I dunno

...he's in a box.

He's going to fight the refunds to businesses in court, but he may want to try and make an election-eve gesture to the American people in the form of following through on his promise of the $2k, especially if he's contiunuing his fiction about the amount they're raising for the Treasury.

It's all a political play, complete with so much smoke and so many mirrors, that it's sort of credible to expect the untenable or the abberation from this WH.

Given that republicans are forecasting a rocky road to defeat in the midterms, it's as likely as the Covid stimulus checks were from the president who was denying there was a problem.

[Ritabert]

17. You could be right. I wouldn't mind it.

[Beartracks]

21. Trump will get around to it in 2 weeks.

[bigtree]

5. tariff refunds could be a 2026 campaign flashpoint

Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome (VP CATO Inst.)
Tariff refunds could be THE fight of 2026 - & a major political flashpoint, too. The US govt illegally collected ~$175 BILLION from US firms, often w/ little notice (& ALWAYS w/ no input). And these taxes harmed the smallest firms most.
If they don't willingly pay it back... 🤬

12:30 PM · Feb 20, 2026

[Bengus81]

11. They get Dems out there saying they'll vote for a refund for each person harmed by this shit

once they have a majority again.

[paleotn]

13. Refunding would be an absolute nightmare.

Businesses trying to figure out how much tariff they've paid above normal levels. In some cases, it's next to impossible. Many of their suppliers merely slap a percentage on every invoice to cover tariff exposure. Few go to the trouble of passing it on in a detailed manner, i.e., this amount of tariff applies to these purchased widgets.

Though I'd like to see refunds all around, the best course is just apply it to the gapping hole that is this year's federal budget thanks to Shitler's tax cuts for the wealth. Sucks, but that's the path of least resistance and that's why that will probably be the path.

AND....I don't want Shitler refunding anything and getting credit for it. He got his hand slapped. I want it to stay that way.

[WA-03 Democrat]

19. Not that hard to figure out COGs increases

on existing items it’s Jan 2025 vs. Jan 2026. Yes totally agree it is a problem he create and should get no credit for solving it.

[Beartracks]

22. Good points all.

==============

[Strelnikov_]

23. "the best course is just apply it to the gapping hole that is this year's federal budget"

Agree.

The people who paid the tariff's are also responsible for the national debt . . . us.

Refunds would be nice, but will devolve into a grift for the well connected.

[drray23]

24. Any properly managed business

Can figure it out down to the cent. If you have integrated inventory, supplies, sales systems , etc.. you can make it spit out these numbers.
Smaller businesses may not have that capability

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Trump has really stepped in it. Tangible numbers that every household can understand.

That will carry all the way to election day, along with how the issue of ICE has been decided in voters minds.

GOPee has a hard road ahead.

[bigtree]

9. he would have been better off just shutting it over this

...and take some credit for the softening of the harm he's done to the economy, or stick with the theme he started with today about the loss of the tariffs harming the economy.

But he's out there immediately bragging about imposing even more costly ones for businesses and basically just owning the shitty economy instead.

[WarGamer]

4. That would be illegal.

Court decided that since the tariffs were illegal, the money was owed back to the importer of record... the government has no right to disburse that money other than to the importers.

unfortunately the only one receiving a windfall will be... WalMart, Target and Dollar Tree and 99c Store

[Bengus81]

12. They passed those tariffs right on down the line to consumers. Let's see them prove they didn't

Because they can't....................

[Bluetus]

15. Exactly. It should be relatively easy to refund

to the importers of record. But to the extent that they passed those costs along to others, therein lies the rub.

But that's not our problem. Trump created this mess. Dems should be demanding a full clawback of all illegal tariffs.

And if MAGA people complain that they actually paid the tariffs and should get the refund, well, we tried to warn you.

I see that Pritzker is taking a different angle, demanding the total tariff collection be refunded to individuals, not importers. Maybe that is the smarter political position, because that goes straight to the point that consumers paid 90% of the tariff. Only 10% was absorbed by importers/retailers

[WarGamer]

18. SCOTUS explicitly said today the refund MUST be to the importer of record.

I don't know how they'd pay that to consumers.

Articles that I read said that major importers like WalMart only passed on around 50% of the tariff costs...

I don't know if there's a way to refund end consumers... theoretically it would have to come from the importer, like WalMart... which will NEVER happen.

[Bluetus]

25. I understand what you are saying. Political punches don't have to be logical.

Pritzker's tactic rubs MAGA's node in this problem. Of course, there is no easy way to refund to the consumers that actually paid the tariff.

But that is not our problem. The Pritzker message is basically, "Trump made ordinary people pay the Trump tax. Retailers like Amazon and Wal*mart mostly passed on the tariffs to the customer, but now the Supreme Court says that Amazon and Wal*mart should eat their money back, but they don't have to refund you when they passed the Trump tariff on to you? WTF?"

Put them on the defensive. It isn't our problem to figure out. Republicans and Trump created this mess. Make them own it.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. You Said That Yesterday

I'm still not being it.
Reputable studies have shown the consumer bore between 91 & 93% of the tariff burden.
So, Walmart, Target,....did not bear the costs. They took revenue based upon an illegal surcharge and could logically be expecred to return those unwarranted margins.
It would ge more efficient to return the money directly to the consumers that bore the brunt of this illegitimate surcharge.
You keep saying it's illegal as if there is some precedent that establishes a law. There isn't.
It's all moot anyway.
$175 billion isn't enough to pay every household $1,700. It's around $50 billion short.

[WarGamer]

28. You're right... I was recollecting studies from mid 25

According to a meta-analysis by Cato and the Yale Budget Lab (released in February 2026), there was a significant shift in who paid as the year 2025 progressed:

June 2025 (The "Absorption" Phase): Studies found that only about 22% to 35% of costs had reached consumers. At that time, 64% of the burden was being eaten by the U.S. companies (importers) themselves through lower profit margins.

Late 2025 (The "Pass-Through" Phase): By October/November, those same researchers found the consumer share had jumped to 55%, and the importer's share had dropped to 27%.

[Buns_of_Fire]

6. They'd get $1700 worth of CryptoTrump Coins.

Redeemable only at TrumpCrap dot com, for all your favorite crap from your favorite crappy "president". Shipping and handling extra on all items. (Shipping and handling charges are payable in $USD only, as mandated in EO 260220-687.)

[bigtree]

8. that would be wild

...and not unexpected, at all.

I can see Lutnick pitching this to him.

[twodogsbarking]

10. You should always date your letters. Good to cc: Legal Dept too.

Gets attention.

[erronis]

14. And a CC: to some reputable news outlets - ProPublica, The Guardian, ...

A few overseas outside of the reach of these crooks.

[Evolve Dammit]

16. Damn straight Governor.

[pat_k]

20. I'd rather see immediate repeal of the MAGA Murder Budget

That horror show was built on collection of something like 5 trillion in tariffs.

Time to repeal the whole fucking thing and start over without that assumption.

Now that people are feeling some of the outrageous cuts in healthcare, snap, etc., and seeing the beginning of the consequences of obscene increase in ice funding, I think a movement to repeal would gain steam quickly.

The house of cards collapses when you pull out the absurd tariff assumptions

[OC375]

26. Should be choices for a refund, like itemizing or standard deduction in taxes

Any transactions of consequence these days are electronic at some point. Really easy to produce receipts for furniture, car parts,. building materials, appliances, etc... especially if tariffs were added to established pricing. A lot of people lost a whole pile more than $1700 on this boondoggle, especially if you had "life" happen and needed to make major repairs or replacements. There was a lot more impacted that just multiple $1 gouges accrued buying stuff off Amazon or a new iPhone..