Amazon revealed on Thursday that it obtained around $600 million in tariff rebates in the second quarter and intends to give back a share of that money to its customers, as reported by CNBC. Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky disclosed these numbers during the company’s earnings call with analysts.

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Olsavsky explained the relatively modest rebate figure by pointing to two key reasons: Amazon had stocked up on inventory ahead of the tariff implementation, and it does not act as the importer of record for most items available in its marketplace. He added that in situations where tariffs did raise costs, Amazon mostly bore those expenses itself instead of shifting them to buyers.

The company stated it would notify shoppers and issue refunds automatically whenever it can clearly match specific import duties to what customers paid. Where such a match is not possible, Amazon said it would, similar to other big retailers, use the rebates to continue funding lower prices for consumers.

Independent sellers represent over 60% of the products sold on Amazon’s platform. Many of these third-party vendors, who bring in goods from abroad, had increased their prices because of the tariffs and have since submitted their own refund requests.

Prior to Thursday, Amazon had not commented on whether it would chase any rebates. A consumer class action filed in Seattle federal court in May argued that shoppers were owed compensation for price hikes caused by the levies and accused the company of intentionally avoiding refunds to preserve favorable relations with the Trump administration, per CNBC.

The rebates originate from a February Supreme Court decision that invalidated the sweeping tariffs President Donald Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which mandated that the government return duties collected from importers. The U.S. Treasury distributed $49.2 billion in customs refunds in June alone, more than twice the approximately $22 billion paid out in May. The combined May and June payments accounted for roughly 42% of the estimated $166 billion in IEEPA-related duties owed to importers, according to Reuters.

Other major retailers have adopted varied strategies regarding the rebates. Walmart announced it would focus on using the funds to invest in pricing, as reported by Bloomberg. Costco said it plans to return at least a portion of its rebate money to customers, although it noted that the precise amount and timing remain unclear. Apple reported on Thursday that tariff rebates boosted its earnings per share by 5%, or 11 cents, in its fiscal third quarter.

https://www.indexbox.io/blog/amazon-to-return-part-of-600m-tariff-refunds-to-customers/