Lawsuit accuses Nike of pocketing tariff refunds while raising prices
The iconic Nike swoosh design is displayed in a window of the athletic company's new store on Broadway in Manhattan on April 24, 2026 in New York City.(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A class-action lawsuit filed against Nike is seeking to block the apparel giant from pocketing "significant" tariff refunds and force Nike to return the money "to the consumers who actually paid them."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court in Oregon where Nike is headquartered, alleges that without court intervention, Nike stands to "recover the same tariff payments twice — once from consumers through higher prices and again from the federal government through tariff refunds."
Nike sued over tariff refunds
The backstory:
When President Trump imposed widespread global tariffs last year, Nike estimated they would cost the company $1 billion. According to the lawsuit, Nike responded to the tariffs by raising prices on some footwear by $5 to $10 and on some apparel by $2 to $10.
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LiveNOW’s Austin Westfall is speaking with Jeffery Degner from the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Some of the most notable moments from Trump's speech surrounded his response to the Supreme Court’s recent 6–3 ruling on tariffs.
In February, the Supreme Court ruled that most of Trump’s tariffs were illegal, and companies who paid them were entitled to refunds. Nike is among the more than 2,000 companies that have filed suits in the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking to recover tariffs they paid.
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What they're saying:
"The economic reality … however, is that importers like Nike didvnot ultimately bear all the costs of the tariffs," the lawsuit states. "Instead, the importers passed the elevated costs on to consumers in the form of higher retail prices.
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"Nike has made no legally binding commitment to return tariff-related overcharges to the consumers who actually paid them," it continues.
What's next:
The lawsuit is seeking class-action status.
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What does Nike say?
The other side:
Nike declined to comment on the lawsuit and whether it plans to pass on tariff refunds to its customers.
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Other companies sued over tariff refunds
Dig deeper:
According to FOX Business, the Nike lawsuit is one of several filed against major companies, including Costco, for failing to to pass tariff refunds on to consumers.
The Source: This report includes information from U.S. district court documents and FOX Business.