Amazon has disclosed that it received approximately $600 million in tariff refunds during the second quarter following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with the e-commerce giant saying it plans to return part of the money to affected customers.

The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Brian Olsavsky, announced the development during Amazon’s earnings call on Thursday, explaining that the refunds were part of a broader government repayment process triggered by the court’s decision.

“We are participating in the tariff refund process and, as I mentioned earlier, we received approximately $600 million in Q2,” Olsavsky said.

The refunds stem from the Supreme Court’s February ruling that struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, declaring many of the levies illegal. The decision required the U.S. government to reimburse import duties paid by companies whose goods had been affected by the tariffs.

Several major U.S. corporations, including Apple, Walmart, Costco, Home Depot and General Motors, have also indicated they would seek refunds under the programme. President Trump had previously said in April that he would “remember” companies that chose not to apply for refunds after being asked whether firms such as Amazon might avoid doing so to prevent political backlash.

Apple also disclosed on Thursday that tariff refunds boosted its third-quarter earnings per share by 5%, or 11 cents.

Before Thursday’s announcement, Amazon had not publicly confirmed whether it intended to seek reimbursement. The company had also faced legal action earlier this year after consumers filed a class-action lawsuit in a federal court in Seattle, alleging that Amazon failed to pursue refunds in order to “curry favor” with President Trump while customers continued paying tariff-inflated prices.

Amazon also previously came under scrutiny from the White House after reports emerged that it planned to display the cost of Trump’s tariffs alongside certain products on its platform. According to NBC News, Trump personally called Amazon founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos to complain about the proposed move.

Explaining why Amazon’s refund amount was relatively modest, Olsavsky said the company had taken proactive steps to minimise its tariff exposure.

“Second, we are not the importer of record for the large majority of items sold in our store,” he said.

He noted that Amazon had also ordered and positioned inventory ahead of the tariffs, limiting the amount of duties it ultimately paid.

The finance chief added that many third-party sellers on Amazon’s marketplace—who account for more than 60% of products sold on the platform and import goods directly from overseas—were forced to increase prices because of the tariffs and have since applied for refunds themselves.

Amazon also pledged to pass some of its refunds directly to customers who bore the additional import costs.

“We’ve identified a limited set of circumstances where we can trace that we’ve passed specific import charges onto customers, and when we receive those refunds, we will proactively contact affected customers and automatically issue refunds to them,” Olsavsky said.

“Otherwise, like other large retailers, we’ll utilize refunds to continue to invest in low prices for customers.” (Arise News)

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