A Costco member has filed a lawsuit alleging that the retailer is obligated to distribute to its membership base any refunds it receives on tariffs paid under the Trump administration's trade measures. The case, reported across multiple outlets including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, has the potential to become a class action covering Costco's millions of cardholders.
Costco has previously indicated it would pass tariff refunds through to members if and when it receives them from the government, according to Axios. The lawsuit appears to challenge whether that conditional commitment is legally sufficient, arguing that members are owed their share regardless.
The figure cited in connection with the broader tariff refund pool is $180 billion, though it is unclear how much of that would be attributable to Costco specifically.
MarketWatch noted that legal experts are sceptical of such claims succeeding. The central difficulty is establishing that a retailer's tariff costs were passed through to consumers in a traceable, recoverable way, and that any subsequent government refund creates a corresponding liability to shoppers rather than accruing to the company.
Costco, which operates on thin merchandise margins and derives a significant portion of its earnings from membership fees, has approximately 130 million cardholders globally. The outcome of the case could have implications for how other large retailers handle any future tariff reversals.
