Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is facing a proposed class action lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle, with two consumers from Maryland and Massachusetts claiming the retailer unlawfully embedded tariff costs into consumer prices rather than absorbing them or pursuing available refunds.
The complaint covers purchases made between 4 February 2025 and 20 February 2026, a period that spans from when tariffs were first imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the date the US Supreme Court ruled that the law did not grant President Donald Trump the authority to impose them.
The plaintiffs allege that Amazon, acting as importer of record for goods sold through its online store, passed IEEPA tariff costs on to consumers through higher prices rather than treating those costs as its own to bear.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Court of International Trade confirmed on 4 March 2026 that the right to reclaim tariff duties from the federal government rests solely with importers of record, meaning Amazon would have been entitled to seek those refunds.
The lawsuit alleges Amazon has chosen not to pursue that recovery, and the complaint attributes that decision to political considerations, citing a reported conversation between President Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after which Trump publicly stated he would remember companies that did not seek refunds.
Pricing data cited in the suit references an analysis of approximately 2,500 Amazon products which found that around 1,200 low-cost items rose in price by an average of 5.2% between January and July 2025, during the same period when comparable products at Walmart fell in price by nearly 2%.
A separate analysis of more than 1,400 Chinese-made products sold on Amazon found a median price increase of 2.6% between January and mid-June 2025, providing additional evidence for the plaintiffs’ argument that costs were being passed through to shoppers.
The Budget Lab at Yale University found that tariffs drove approximately 86% of the rise in prices for imported household goods up to January 2026, placing the broader inflationary impact of the IEEPA tariffs in context.
US Customs and Border Protection estimated total IEEPA duties collected at approximately $166 billion as of 4 March 2026, with wider estimates suggesting US consumers paid more than $231 billion in tariff-related costs between February 2025 and January 2026, or roughly $1,745 per household.
The three-count lawsuit seeks restitution, a share of any refunds Amazon recovers from the government, treble damages, interest, legal fees, and injunctive relief, with a jury trial requested.
Amazon has not responded publicly to the complaint, and the case follows a separate California lawsuit filed last month alleging that the company colluded with suppliers and rival retailers to inflate prices rather than compete on cost.
