WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - A group of 15 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday urged CEOs of major retailers and shippers to give back any refunds they receive from President Donald Trump's illegal tariffs to consumers who paid higher prices.
• The letter from the group led by Representative Steven Horsford of Nevada was sent just days after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency launched a new portal for companies to submit refund requests, in compliance with a court
order after the Supreme Court in February struck down Trump's broad tariffs under a national emergencies law.
• The group asks the CEOs what steps they will take to ensure that tariff relief translates into lower prices or other direct benefits for consumers, including credits.
• They also ask the CEOs to commit to not using any refunds for stock buybacks or executive compensation.
• The letter was sent to the CEOs of Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, Best Buy, Costco, FedEx, United Parcel Service and DHL.
• It remains unclear whether these companies will seek refunds as the CBP application system is private. Costco and FedEx have both sued the federal government to prevent the finalization of their import entries and preserve their rights to refunds. Amazon, Target and Walmart have not filed such lawsuits.
• Trump said on Tuesday he will "remember" companies that forego tariff refunds, implying some unspecified benefit if they abstain from using the CBP portal.
• The lawmakers cited Penn Wharton Budget Model research that said up to $175 billion in tariff payments could be subject to refunds, with up to $700 million more in interest payments. CBP said in March that it collected $166 billion under tariffs backed by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
• The Democrats' letter asks the CEOs to provide details on how they passed tariff costs on to consumers, small businesses and other suppliers.
• "With substantial refunds likely to be processed soon at the importer level, we are concerned that without transparency and accountability, refunds will benefit corporate balance sheets and shareholders and never reach consumers who paid higher prices," the lawmakers wrote.
(Reporting by David LawderEditing by Rod Nickel)
