US companies start getting billions of dollars back after Trump tariffs are overturned

US court considers several tariffs imposed by Donald Trump illegal The United States government began returning billions of dollars charged in commercial tariffs to large companies after tariffs imposed by Donald Trump were considered illegal by the American supreme court in February this year. A survey published by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal shows that more than 40 multinationals that are part of the S&P 500 index have already reported around US$9.6 billion in refunds. * The S&P 500 is one of the main indexes on the United States stock exchange and brings together the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the country. It serves as the most important barometer of the economic health of the American market. Of the total amount already reported by the companies, at least US$ 2.1 billion has already effectively entered the companies' cash. The remainder includes reimbursements that were accepted by the government and recorded on the balance sheets as receivables. ? The US$9.6 billion reported by multinationals in the S&P 500 represents just a portion of the total volume at stake in the American government. Of the global amount of US$166 billion charged in tariffs that were canceled, around US$100 billion has already been sent to the United States Treasury for release of payments. In total, the country's customs have already accepted more than 252 thousand return requests from various companies, which indicates that thousands of other companies, in addition to the giants listed on the stock exchange, are also in line to recover millions of dollars (See more details below). One of the justifications used by the US government in the first round of tariffs was to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ((IEEPA) to impose fees on almost all of its global partners. Among the measures applied based on IEEPA were “reciprocal” tariffs of almost global reach and other tariffs related to combating the trafficking of lethal drugs in the US. However, the Supreme Court highlighted that IEEPA does not explicitly mention the creation of tariffs. The law only allows the president to “regulate the import" of foreign goods after declaring a national emergency to face threats considered "unusual and extraordinary". Recall the details of the suspension here. ?? It is worth remembering that Donald Trump's government has once again applied import duties against a series of countries, including Brazil again. The American government's new trade offensive includes charges under Section 232, in addition to an additional rate of 12.5% under the allegation of the use of forced labor in the Brazilian export ecosystem. (More details about the new tariffs) Understand the path from the creation of the tax to the return of the money: The mechanism until the arrival of this money back to the companies worked in a chain reaction. It all started when the American administration started charging customs surcharges on products coming from different global markets, directly affecting the Brazilian export chain. In practice, US multinationals had to pay this extra tax out of their own pockets when the goods arrived in the United States. At the time, to mitigate this loss and not bear the bill alone, the companies passed on part of the fee to the prices charged to consumers or put pressure on suppliers' costs at the source. As these fees were invalidated by the courts, as mentioned previously, the entire amount collected by customs became an undue charge from the American government. That's why companies were able to sue the Union to recover the amounts overpaid, starting the cycle of billion-dollar reimbursements that now enter the corporate coffers. Apple and Nike lead returns Among the companies with the highest amounts charged back to American customs, Apple appears in the isolated leadership, with almost US$2.2 billion in refunds. Following the biggest returns are Nike, with US$986 million; FedEx, with US$800 million; Amazon, with US$640 million; and General Motors, with US$500 million. In the case of Nike, most of the money has already been recovered. The company reported having received US$302 million by the end of May and practically the entire remainder of the US$986 million amount by mid-July. American government accepted US$ 128.7 billion in requests The US$ 9.6 billion reported by companies represents only a fraction of the total volume that the United States government will have to return. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency responsible for American customs, has already received more than 252,000 refund requests. In total, the agency accepted for processing US$128.7 billion in requests for refunds of invalidated tariffs. Despite the billion-dollar volume to be returned, the reimbursement does not mean the end of import duties for companies. Machine manufacturer Caterpillar, for example, reported having US$392 million to receive in refunds, but expects to pay US$2.2 billion in new fees throughout the year. Some companies intend to return money to consumers With the return of amounts unduly charged, some companies are considering passing on the refund to customers who were charged higher prices at the time the fees were charged. FedEx said it intends to distribute the recovered $800 million to customers and carriers. Costco and IDEX, an industrial equipment manufacturer, also confirmed their intention to pass on part of the refunds to their consumers. Container ships are seen in the port of Santos. Alexandre Meneghini/ AP Photos Amazon has identified cases in which it is possible to track the cost of fees passed directly to buyers and plans to contact these customers to return the money as soon as they receive refunds. In other cases, the company states that it will use the resources to continue investing in low prices.