Amazon passed tariff costs to consumers on both imported and domestic goods, class action claims

New York resident Gregory Rittenhouse filed a class action lawsuit on June 5, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York alleging Amazon inflated prices to pass federal tariff costs on to its shoppers. He filed the complaint

The class action seeks to cover Amazon purchases between Feb. 4, 2025 and Feb. 20, 2026, which is when the Trump administration reportedly imposed sweeping tariffs on imported goods under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The lawsuit claims Amazon now stands to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in government refunds for those same tariff costs without repaying the consumers who paid them.

How Amazon allegedly passed tariff costs to shoppers

The Trump administration started the IEEPA tariffs Feb. 4, 2025, with a 10% duty on Chinese imports. Two executive orders in March 2025 added 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, and by April the administration extended tariffs to most other major U.S. trading partners. Chinese import rates peaked near 127.2% in early May 2025, the complaint alleges.

In April 2025, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he expected sellers to pass tariff costs to consumers, and, by January 2026, he acknowledged tariffs costs began to "creep" into Amazon's prices. Independent analyses cited in the suit found Amazon raised prices faster than inflation, including a 5.2% average jump on roughly 1,200 low-cost goods between January and July 2025.

Did the price hikes hit U.S.-sourced products, too?

The complaint alleges Amazon not only raised the prices of tariffed imports but of domestic goods, as well. It reportedly spread the costs across its whole catalog so shoppers who bought goods made entirely in the United States paid more even though domestic products carry no import duties, according to the lawsuit.

The suit splits the proposed class into two groups:

  • An imported product subclass for tariffed goods buyers
  • A U.S.-sourced product subclass for domestic goods buyers whose prices Amazon allegedly raised

How Amazon could recover the same cost twice

On Feb. 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump that the IEEPA did not authorize the tariffs, voiding them. The Court of International Trade then ordered refunds, but only importers of record, the businesses that paid the duties at the border, can claim them, the lawsuit claims.

Customs and Border Protection collected roughly $166 billion in IEEPA duties as of early March 2026, according to the suit.

As one of the country's largest importers, Amazon stands to claim a substantial share, the complaint alleges. Because it already passed those costs to shoppers, recovering the refund would let it collect the same money twice, an outcome the complaint calls an "inequitable windfall."

Research cited in the suit found U.S. businesses and consumers together bore nearly 90% of the 2025 tariff burden with American families paying more than $231 billion in tariff costs at roughly $1,745 each.

The legal claims

The class action brings four claims against Amazon:

  • New York General Business Law Section 349, which bars deceptive business practices
  • New York General Business Law Section 350, which bars false advertising
  • Unjust enrichment, which argues Amazon should not keep the money it is about to recover from the government
  • Money had and received, which is a common law claim for returning funds that rightfully belong to someone else

Rittenhouse asks the court to certify the class and order Amazon to return all tariff surcharges with interest plus restitution, compensatory, punitive and treble damages, disgorgement of profits and attorneys' fees.

What the case means for Amazon shoppers

There is no settlement, no claims process and no money available now.