Tariffs Raised Consumers' Prices, but the Refunds Go Only to Businesses

Also true of any other refund a business might get for any other expense the business was overcharged for. Not sure why anyone is surprised.

Free gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/us/politics/companies-con...

This would be a valid concern if businesses got $1 in additional tariff costs and passed on $1 in price increases. This categorically did not happen, and businesses absorbed the vast majority of the blow through both stockpiling and taking the bullet.

Prime example is Mercedes. The RRP for post-tariff Mercedes vehicles was identical to the pre-tariff RRP.

Food prices also rose significantly less than the tariff increases.

Importantly, journalists in media, classically inept at any economic analysis, implied that 10% tariff = 10% RRP rise. They never corrected themselves, nor for the economists who falsely claimed the economy would collapse.

When you pay $10 for a widget at the store, the cost price of that widget is likely $2. A 10% additional tariff (if passed along fully, it wasn't) would mean the widget goes from $10.00 to $10.20.

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