U.S. Costco shoppers who bought imported goods between February 2025 and February 2026 may be covered by proposed class actions alleging Costco Wholesale Corporation passed IEEPA tariff costs on to members through higher prices, then sought the government refunds for itself. No class has been certified and there is nothing to file yet.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes class action complaints. The statements below are unproven allegations. Costco Wholesale Corporation has not been found liable, there is no certified class, and nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
Costco Wholesale Corporation faces four proposed class actions over tariff refunds, all filed in March 2026 and listed in Costco’s own quarterly report for the period ended May 10, 2026. The suits allege that Costco raised prices to pass tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) on to its members, then pursued refunds of those same tariffs for itself after the Supreme Court struck them down. The four cases are Stockov v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 1:26-cv-02734, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; Briggs v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 2:26-cv-01064, in the Western District of Washington; Gower v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 26-2-08898-5 SEA, in King County Superior Court in Washington; and Ortiz v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 3:26-cv-01164-CVR, in the District of Puerto Rico.Costco disputes the claims and has moved to dismiss Stockov and Gower, according to its quarterly report. In its May 2026 brief in Stockov, Costco argued that “Plaintiff got what he paid for, and Costco never suggested that it would (or even might) later refund part of the purchase price,” as quoted by Supermarket News. No class has been certified, no court has found Costco liable, and there is nothing for members to claim.
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What Costco Says It Is Doing With the Refunds
Costco has said from the start that refund money would go to lower prices, not to payments to members. On March 5, 2026, the day after the Court of International Trade ordered IEEPA refunds, CEO Ron Vachris said any refunds would be used to provide “lower prices and better values,” according to the Stockov complaint.The refunds have since arrived. On Costco’s September 24, 2026 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said the company received $184 million in tariff refunds, including $10 million in interest, in the quarter ended August 30, 2026, a little more than a third of what it expects, according to CFO Dive. Vachris said the company “predominantly” used those first refunds to lower prices on produce, meat and beverages and on some home furnishing and hardware items, the same report says. “On the pricing investments, we view that as very much a giving value back to our members for the tariff refunds that we received,” Millerchip said. Costco’s fourth-quarter earnings release reports a non-recurring benefit of $0.15 per diluted share from the refunds, “less partial reinvestment of those refunds in increased member values.”
The plaintiffs say that is not enough. In an August 12, 2026 filing in Stockov, they called Costco’s lower-price approach “barely more than shapeless adspeak,” according to CFO Dive. Their argument is that cheaper prices for future shoppers do not repay the particular members who paid more during the tariff period.
What the Lawsuits Allege
The Stockov complaint alleges that roughly a third of Costco’s U.S. sales are imports and that goods from China make up about eight percent of them. It points to Costco’s own statements: on a May 2025 earnings call, Millerchip said “raising prices is always seen as a last resort,” but later on the same call acknowledged that for some products sourced from Central and South America, “we did increase some price there because we felt that was something that the member would be able to absorb.” The complaint also cites Costco’s gross margins during the tariff period as evidence that the company recovered its tariff costs from shoppers.According to the complaint, Costco sued the federal government in the Court of International Trade on November 28, 2025 to recover the IEEPA duties it had paid, months before the Supreme Court ruled. The plaintiffs allege that Costco is therefore positioned to be paid twice for the same tariffs, once by members at the register and once by the government. These are allegations. Whether Costco passed tariff costs on to members, and how much, has not been decided.
How the Four Cases Differ
Stockov, filed March 11, 2026 in Chicago, proposes a nationwide class of everyone who bought, from any Costco retail channel, a good subject to IEEPA tariffs between February 1, 2025 and February 24, 2026. It adds a subclass of buyers in Illinois, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin under those states’ consumer fraud laws, and pleads unjust enrichment and money had and received. Counsel is Korein Tillery LLC.Briggs, filed March 27, 2026 in Seattle by seven Costco members, proposes a nationwide class of people who bought goods from Costco subject to IEEPA tariffs over the same period. It pleads unjust enrichment, money had and received, the Washington Consumer Protection Act, the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law, and asks for a declaratory judgment. Counsel is Emery Reddy, PC.
Gower, a Washington state-court case in King County, and Ortiz, in federal court in Puerto Rico, are known from Costco’s quarterly report, which says the four complaints allege violations of state consumer protection laws and equitable doctrines. OCA has not reviewed those two complaints.
What Happens Next?
Costco moved to dismiss Stockov on May 18, 2026, arguing among other things that the claims were not ripe because it had not yet received any refunds, that the Illinois consumer fraud claims fail, and that a sales contract bars an unjust enrichment claim. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger set a briefing schedule; the plaintiff opposed the motion on June 16 and Costco replied on June 30. In an August 5, 2026 notice, Costco said it had received about a third of its expected refunds but maintained that the plaintiff still lacked standing, and the plaintiff answered in an August 12 sur-reply that the no-refunds argument had “evaporated.” The court docket shows no ruling on the motion as of its most recent entry on September 30, 2026.The Costco suits may also be folded into a larger proceeding. Plaintiffs in other tariff cases have asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to combine 25 retailer tariff refund suits against 15 retailers, including Stockov and Briggs, before a single judge in the Northern District of Illinois, and proposed Judge Seeger or Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow. A copy of that request was filed on the Stockov docket on September 30, 2026. OCA had not found a decision on it as of November 2, 2026.
If the case survives dismissal, the next major step would be class certification. OCA covered the first filing in its March 2026 report on the Stockov case and tracks every consumer tariff refund suit on its tariff class actions page.
Questions
What are the Costco tariff refund lawsuits about?
Four proposed class actions filed in March 2026 allege that Costco Wholesale Corporation passed tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) on to members through higher prices, then sought refunds of those tariffs for itself after the Supreme Court ruled them unlawful on February 20, 2026. Costco has moved to dismiss at least two of them. The allegations are unproven, and Costco has not been found liable.
How much has Costco received in tariff refunds?
Costco received $184 million in IEEPA tariff refunds, including $10 million in interest, in its fiscal fourth quarter ended August 30, 2026, which Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip described as a little more than a third of the total it expects, according to CFO Dive’s report on the September 24, 2026 earnings call. Costco’s earnings release says the refunds added a non-recurring $0.15 per diluted share, less partial reinvestment in member value.
Is Costco giving tariff refunds to members?
Not as direct payments. Costco executives have said the company is using the refunds to lower prices, with CEO Ron Vachris saying the first refunds went “predominantly” to price cuts on items such as produce, meat and beverages. The lawsuits argue that lower future prices do not repay the specific members who paid higher prices during the tariff period.
Who could be covered by the Costco tariff class actions?
The Illinois and Washington federal complaints both propose nationwide classes of people who bought goods subject to IEEPA tariffs from Costco between February 1, 2025 and February 24, 2026. The Illinois complaint adds a subclass of buyers in ten states under their consumer fraud laws. No class has been certified, so these definitions are not final.
Is there a Costco tariff refund settlement or claim form?
No. There is no settlement, claim form, payout or deadline. The cases are at the motion-to-dismiss stage, and money would become available only if a court rules for the plaintiffs or the parties reach a settlement that a court approves.
Sources
• Costco Wholesale Corporation Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 10, 2026 (legal proceedings note listing the four tariff suits)• Class action complaint, Stockov v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 1:26-cv-02734 (N.D. Ill., filed March 11, 2026), and the court docket, including the motion to dismiss (Dkt. 22), briefing (Dkt. 26, 27, 29) and the centralization motion (Dkt. 31)
• Class action complaint, Briggs v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 2:26-cv-01064 (W.D. Wash., filed March 27, 2026)
• Costco fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 results, September 24, 2026
• “Costco CFO doubles down on tariff strategy, winks at churro comeback”, CFO Dive, September 25, 2026
• “Costco fights customer’s tariff suit as refunds flow in”, CFO Dive, August 24, 2026
• “Costco believes it owes customers nothing due to tariffs”, Supermarket News, May 28, 2026
• Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, No. 24-1287 (U.S. February 20, 2026)
