Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Ol Janx Spirit

(898 posts)
18. Exactly--it is a potential windfall for companies that passed the tariffs straight on the the consumers.
Sun Feb 22, 2026, 12:48 PM
Sunday

The records that the government has account for every cent a company paid in import taxes. That will be easy to refund--and there are already mechanisms in place to do so.

Not every company passed those tariffs on, however--so they will only be made whole for their initial tariff tax costs.

But if your company did pass those costs on and you get a refund for what you paid then it's just a windfall for you unless there is a requirement to somehow pay it back to the consumers--a process that would probably cost far more than it is worth if you sell lots of products to consumers through retailers.

So, you paid the tariff tax; you recouped the tariff tax from your customer; and now you get a big fat check for the tariff tax you paid that you get to keep....

Calculating what an individual consumer paid in tariff taxes and additional sales tax, etc., is basically impossible.

Also, if a tariff tax raised the price of a non-tariffed item--which is of course the way it works when your competitor suddenly has to raise their price and you can raise yours to just a hair under that--then how can that cost to consumers possibly be calculated?

No, as always, the easiest thing to do will be to shower corporations with money that they can do whatever they want with--most likely giving it straight to executives as always.

And of course, the prices aren't coming down on either the tariff-impacted products or the ones that just went up because they could any time soon....



Recommendations

3 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

DURec leftstreet Sunday #1
Not a logical step Roy Rolling Yesterday #37
let me make a small correction... Javaman Yesterday #40
The companies will then be expected to donate some of their profits back to Trump. Irish_Dem Sunday #2
The state it was sold in made additional sales tax revenue due to the tariffs as well MichMan Sunday #3
Except sector tariffs like auto parts are not covered by the SCOTUS ruling Fiendish Thingy Sunday #4
No incentive to lower price Randomthought Sunday #5
+1. Corporations rarely lower prices once they have raised them. dalton99a Sunday #8
That's the most important aspect of this. Probatim Sunday #20
And their competition raises prices as well Tasmanian Devil Sunday #33
A Different Nutshell Heard From: The Tariff Monies Went Straight Into.... ColoringFool Sunday #6
That is not true. The tariffs went straight into the US Treasury. Wiz Imp Sunday #25
Is That Sarcastic Towards Me Or Trump? ColoringFool Sunday #31
Wow. Wiz Imp Sunday #32
I don't think anybody questions that the tariff money goes to the Treasury. That's the wrong question. Bluetus Sunday #34
I agree with that. Wiz Imp Sunday #35
If the money deposited in the Treasury was, say, $225B, I wonder Bluetus Yesterday #42
Well, That Tidy Little Sum Of $10 Billion For The "Board Of Peace"....... ColoringFool Sunday #36
Agree, but it's missing one step gulliver Sunday #7
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haha haha ha ha ha ha ha ha bsiebs Sunday #10
Lol gulliver Sunday #12
Tariffs are just baked into the price and aren't listed separately on invoices provided to customers. Shermann Sunday #9
We had some online purchases that did have line item tariff charges added. Hope22 Yesterday #39
Yes and no. Ms. Toad Sunday #11
Thanks. progressoid Sunday #21
This is a very real scenario. And nosice there was an extra $25 of price gouging in this example. Bluetus Sunday #13
+1. Companies have also been raising prices because of "oh, inflation" dalton99a Sunday #16
All of the corporations popsdenver Sunday #22
Yep, purely profit-driven. dalton99a Sunday #29
There is a simple solution to most of our economic issues Bluetus Sunday #30
Exactly Blue popsdenver Yesterday #43
Exactly. Everything has been shifted toward wealth accumulation Bluetus 22 hrs ago #44
AND, has been, esp since 1980 popsdenver 22 hrs ago #45
And that we have mostly been sleeping through this rise of fascism. Bluetus 19 hrs ago #46
I have been popsdenver 19 hrs ago #47
There it is. 2naSalit Sunday #14
Pretty much Demixs Sunday #15
I've always said tariffs tranfer money from consumers to the Treasury. CaptainTruth Sunday #17
Exactly--it is a potential windfall for companies that passed the tariffs straight on the the consumers. Ol Janx Spirit Sunday #18
Good luck ever seeing a penny of that refund. xuplate Sunday #19
THIS! Mr.Bee Sunday #23
They are robbing us blind in so many ways! debsy Sunday #24
By the time he gets bout of here the debt will be beyond astronomical! Hope22 Yesterday #41
It's been a total crap shoot MadScout Sunday #26
We will never see a dime. I doubt companies, who technically paid the tariff will either. themaguffin Sunday #27
Greedy grifters.......ALL of them vapor2 Sunday #28
Hell, that is the description of our entire society, not just those tariffs. (n/t) OldBaldy1701E Yesterday #38
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»The Trump tariffs scam in...»Reply #18