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.

-
Meow Money Meow Problems
More than 20 years ago, something unusual happened in the small town of Dixfield, Maine. A lady named Barbara Thorpe had left almost all of her money—$200,000—to benefit the cats of her hometown. When Barbara…
-
Hollywood’s Black List (Classic)
This episode originally ran in 2020. In 2005, Franklin Leonard was a junior executive at Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company. A big part of his job was to find great scripts. The only thing — most…
-
Jay & Shai’s debt ceiling adventure
Every year, the U.S. government spends more money than it takes in. In order to fund all that spending, the country takes on debt. Congress has the power to limit how much debt the U.S.…
-
Two Indicators: Inside the Fed, then and now
A lot of the time, economic policy can seem pretty impersonal — cold, hard, data-driven. But at the heart of the Federal Reserve are people: fallible, complicated people who are just doing their best to…
-
Our 2023 valentines
Every Valentine’s Day, we at Planet Money consider the things that we love, the things that we can’t stop talking about, the things that get our hearts racing…in a good way. And we give them…
-
The ice cream conspiracy
Take a look in any supermarket ice cream freezer section and you may see a mystery. There are big containers of the typical ice cream brands: Breyers, Turkey Hill, and Edy’s. And there are specialty…
-
Baby’s first market failure
Anyone who has tried shopping for day care knows that it is tough out there. For one, it is hard even to get your hands on information about costs, either online or over the phone…
-
Groundhog Day 2023
It’s Groundhog Day, and once again, the eyes of the nation have turned to a small town in Western Pennsylvania. Every February 2nd, the only story anyone can talk about is whether or not Punxsutawney…
-
To all the econ papers I’ve loved before
A great economics paper does two things. It takes on a big question, and it finds a smart way to answer that question. But some papers go even further. The very best papers have the…
-
The story of “Monopoly” and American capitalism
Monopoly is one of the best-selling board games in history. The game’s staying power may in part be because of strong American lore — the idea that anyone, with just a little bit of cash,…
