Planet Money
Companies are getting billions of dollars back. How about us?
It seems simple, right? We paid higher prices for imported goods because of tariffs. Then the tariffs were ruled illegal. Courts said the money paid to the U.S. government had to be refunded. Companies are getting that money now.
It would seem like we, the customers, should get paid back, too. But … it’s not so simple.
Once again, we’re dipping back into the drama of import tax law. We’re engrossed in the ups, downs, betrayal, and romance of … the Days of our Tariffs.
In this edition: “Refunds and Regrets.”
How and why some companies and people are getting their IEEPA tariff refunds and other people are out of luck.
Live Show:
– Planet Money Live at Kilkenomics. Kilkenny, Ireland Nov. 6th – 7th
Read Planet Money:
– Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life
– Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter
– Our weekly Indicator round-up newsletter
Follow Planet Money:
– Instagram
– TikTok
– YouTube
– Facebook
Listen to more Planet Money:
– Our short, daily podcast, The Indicator from Planet Money
– Over 1,000 episodes in our archive on the NPR App
Merch:
– NPR Shop
– The Planet Money game, Sell Me A Sasquatch
Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and James Sneed. It was edited by our executive producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Cena Loffredo. Special thanks this week to everyone who wrote in with a tale of tariff drama.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

-
Why are we so bummed about the economy?
Would you say that you and your family are better off or worse off, financially, than you were a year ago? Do you think in 12 months we’ll have good times, financially, or bad? Generally…
-
So you want to sell marijuana across state lines
In the state of Oregon, there is a glut of grass. A wealth of weed. A crisis of chronic. And, jokes aside, it’s a real problem for people who work in the cannabis industry like…
-
A very Planet Money Thanksgiving
Here at Planet Money, Thanksgiving is not just a time to feast on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casseroles and pie(s). It’s also a time to feast on economics. Today, we host a very…
-
Economic fact in literary fiction
Some of the most influential and beloved novels of the last few years have been about money, finance, and the global economy. Some overtly so, others more subtly. It got to the point where we…
-
China’s real estate crisis, explained
China’s economic growth for the past few decades has been extraordinary. And much of that growth was fueled by real estate – it was like this miraculous economic engine for the country. But recently, that…
-
The alleged theft at the heart of ChatGPT
When best-selling thriller writer Douglas Preston began playing around with OpenAI’s new chatbot, ChatGPT, he was, at first, impressed. But then he realized how much in-depth knowledge GPT had of the books he had written.…
-
Never have I ever
The world of economics has these two different sides. One one side, there are the economists in their cozy armchairs and dusty libraries, high up in their ivory towers. On the other, there’s the messy…
-
FTC Chair Lina Khan on Antitrust in the age of Amazon
When Lina Khan was in law school back in 2017, she wrote a law review article called ‘Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,’ that went kinda viral in policy circles. In it, she argued that antitrust enforcement in…
-
Antitrust in America (classic)
Earlier this fall, the Federal Trade Commission filed a high-stakes lawsuit against Amazon. In that suit, the FTC claims Amazon is a monopoly, and it accuses the company of using anti-competitive tactics to hold onto…
-
All you can eat economics
You might expect to find economic concepts in the pages of an economics textbook. But you know where you can really see a lot of economic concepts in action? Buffets. Here at Planet Money we…
