Catenaa, Monday, April 13, 2026- US companies applying for Trump tariff refunds unlikely to directly share the benefits of refunds with customers.
That’s according to the latest CNBC CFO Council quarterly survey. While 12 of the 25 chief financial officers said their company plans to apply for tariff refunds, none said they intend to directly share that money with customers.
Six of those polled said they did not plan to pass on any portion of the tariff refunds they might receive, seven were not sure, and 12 answered: “not applicable.”
Ten of the executives in the C-suite said they think it could take a year or longer to receive repayment, and only three of the CFOs expected repayment this year. The other 12 CFOs said they do not plan to apply for tariff refunds.
The CFO Council survey is a sampling of views from chief financial officers at large organizations across sectors of the US economy. CFO Council members took the survey between March 23 and April 2.
Meanwhile, the legal battle over Trump’s tariffs is far from over. The same day the Supreme Court ruled in February that “reciprocal tariffs” were illegal, Trump announced a new “global tariff” rate of 10% under a separate statute, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, for a period of 150 days. He later said he would increase global tariffs to 15%.
Tariffs are taxes on imports from foreign nations and are paid by US entities that import the item.
Businesses often bear some of the cost and pass on the rest to consumers through higher prices. In this way, tariffs have had an overall inflationary impact on the economy, economists say.
Even if companies were to receive refunds, the CNBC CFO Council survey results are “not a surprise,” Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s, told CNBC.
After factoring in the hefty toll on US businesses, including higher costs and supply chain adjustments to reduce tariff exposure, CFOs may be thinking “this is just compensation,” Zandi said, “they are going to hold on to those [refunds].”
The Trump administration may pressure companies to pass those savings on, he added, “but that will be very difficult to do.”
The president has floated the idea of putting some tariff revenue directly in the hands of Americans, in the form of a tariff dividend check.
However, any such broad-based benefit program would require legislation passed by Congress.
Both Democrats and Republicans have tried to capitalize on Trump’s tariff agenda ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. No legislation has been approved yet, although several tariff refund bills have been introduced in Congress.
