A Costco shopper filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. on Tuesday, alleging the retailer is illegally holding potential refunds for tariffs determined to be unlawful by the Supreme Court while customers paid inflated prices on goods.
“This class action arises from Costco’s retention of windfall profits generated by the unlawful tariffs imposed by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (‘IEEPA’), 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.,” the complaint, filed by Matthew Stockov in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, said.
The suit claims Costco increased prices so customers would absorb the costs of IEEPA tariffs, which were imposed starting in February 2025. After the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs on Feb. 20, 2026, and an executive order rescinded them, U.S. Customs and Border Protection ceased collection as of Feb. 24, 2026.
Costco did not immediately return a request for comment by The Epoch Times.
Costco filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade on Nov. 28, 2025, and received a refund order on March 4, 2026.
The Costco shopper’s complaint claims the company could take in hundreds of millions to more than $1 billion with no intention of returning those funds to its members.
“Costco’s simultaneous recoupment of tariff costs from consumers through elevated pricing and from the government through court-ordered tariff refunds constitutes unjust enrichment at the expense of the Classes,” the complaint states.
The proposed class action lawsuit includes all people in the United States who bought any goods subject to the IEEPA tariffs from Costco retail outlets between Feb. 1, 2025, and Feb. 24, 2026. A subclass covers shoppers in Illinois, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Washington state, and Wisconsin during the same time period.
The lawsuit entails three claims, including that Costco is in violation of state consumer fraud statutes, quasi-contract/unjust enrichment, and money had and received. It seeks damages or restitution and a trial.
The complaint highlights that “all importers of record” are “entitled to the benefit” of the Supreme Court ruling that invalidated the IEEPA tariffs.
Costco CEO Ron Vachris discussed potential refunds during a March 5 earnings call.
“Regarding tariff refunds, it is not yet clear what the process will be, what refunds, if any, will be received, and when this will happen,” Vachris said.
“As we’ve done in the past, when legal challenges have recovered charges passed on in some form to our members, our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value to our members through lower prices and better values.”
The complaint argues the company plans only to apply any refunds to future general savings as opposed to direct compensation for those who paid the inflated prices.
