Reed, Heinrich Seek to Refund Working Families for Trump’s Unlawful Tariffs

WASHINGTON, DC –Americans paid for President Trump’s unconstitutional ‘emergency’ tariffs. Now thatthe U.S. Supreme Court has ruled those tariffs illegal, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) says Americans households deserve to get their money back in a swift and orderly fashion.
This week, Reed is teaming up with U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and half a dozen colleagues to introduce the Tariff Refunds for Working Families Act. This legislation would create a tax rebate program for individuals and families who have paid increased prices for groceries and everyday essentials due to President Donald Trump’s unlawful foreign tariffs.
While President Trump tried to claim foreign countries and companies would pay the tariffs, multiple studies across the political spectrum indicate otherwise:American consumers ultimately bear the burden of Trump’s tariffs and were forced to pay higher prices. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it collected more than $166 billion in invalid tariffs.
According to a U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) report, Trump’s unlawful tariffs have already cost American families more than $1,700 each.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision ruling Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for tariffs was unlawful and therefore many of Trump’s broad, cost-raising tariffs unconstitutional, the Trump Administration responded by doing exactly what it argued before federal courts that it could not do: use Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 as a replacement to IEEPA to impose worldwide tariffs.
Now more costs from these new blanket Trump tariffs are being passed on to American consumers and working families without them receiving the economic relief they deserve.The Yale Budget Lab estimates that Section 122 tariffs could cost the average U.S. household between $600 and $800 per year.
While large corporations and importation companies have already sued the Trump Administration seeking refunds on tariff costs for themselves, this approach is unlikely to reach most consumers and small businesses, who bore the ultimate financial cost of the tariffs. The Tariff Refunds for Working Families Act would refund Americans for the increased costs they’ve shouldered and reaffirms that the power to tax and regulate commerce resides with Congress.
“President Trump’s illegal tariffs have cost New Mexico families an average of $1,355. This is money that belongs to working families — not the CEOs of Walmart or Amazon or any other big corporation,” said Senator Heinrich. “The President may call the affordability crisis a ‘hoax,’ but working people feel it every time they pay for groceries or everyday essentials. This bill will return the money lost to Trump’s tariffs back to the people who paid the price.”
“President Trump's executive overreach was an unconstitutional power play that increased prices for working Americans. The Trump Administration has a duty to refund these costs in a swift and orderly manner. Rebate and refunds should quickly go to working people and small businesses who were hit hardest. The Tariff Refunds for Working Families Act offers a sensible framework and is a good place to start. President Trump must also halt his harmful blanket tariffs that are a de facto sales tax on hardworking Americans, create an unnecessary drag on the U.S. economy, and continue to cause uncertainty and economic disruption for American businesses of all sizes,” saidSenator Reed.
The Tariff Refunds for Working Families Act will establish the “Working Families Refund.” Specifically, the legislation will:
• Provide a tax rebate of $600 to individual filers making $90,000 or less;
• Provide a tax rebate of $600 to head of household filers making $120,000 or less;
• Provide a tax rebate of $1200 to joint filers making $180,000 or less; and
• Provide an additional tax rebate of $600 for each dependent child.
For example, a family of four with two parents filing jointly and two dependent children making less than $180,000 a year would receive a $2,400 Working Families Refund.
In addition to Heinrich and Reed, the Tariff Refunds for Working Families Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).