$600M Tariff Refunds Flow Back to Amazon Shoppers

Amazon is sharing $600 million in tariff refunds with customers after the company collected repayments from the US government. The tariffs were levied under a 1977 statute, but were invalidated by the Supreme Court in February. This boosted Apple's earnings per share by 5% or 11 cents in the third quarter.

The $600 million refund comes from tariffs paid on imported goods, and Amazon is participating in the process despite not being listed as the official importer for most of its goods. Independent sellers represent over 60% of the products sold on Amazon's marketplace.

Amazon Finance Chief Brian Olsavsky said that some refunds will be returned to shoppers who can be identified, while others will be used to continue investing in low prices. The company stocked up and positioned inventory in expectation of the tariffs, making it harder to track which customers should receive refunds.