President Donald Trump weighed in as major corporations, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), reportedly avoided seeking tariff reimbursements.
According to CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, several major companies opting not to claim tariff refunds may reflect a desire to avoid “offending” Trump and possibly to sidestep political backlash.
When he asked about the issue during an interview on Tuesday, Trump said, “I think it’s brilliant if they don’t do that, if they don’t do that, they got to know me very well. I’m very honored by what you just said.”
“If they don’t do that, I’ll remember them,” the President said.
Trump further suggested that such actions contribute to strengthening the nation and expressed his appreciation for the companies that are choosing not to seek reimbursements.
“Supreme Court could have helped us,” he added.
Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comments.
Tariff Refund Portal Draws Backlash
On Monday, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an online portal to facilitate the process of claiming refunds on tariffs that were declared unconstitutional under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The move was expected to see a flow back of up to $127 billion to importers. However, it is unclear if the customers who paid higher prices due to the tariffs would get anything.
However, the process for seeking refunds has drawn criticism. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT.) stated that the new refund portal reflects the ongoing economic damage to small businesses already burdened by higher import costs. Murphy slammed the requirement for small businesses to complete extensive paperwork to seek refunds for “illegal” tariffs.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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