Costco CEO says any tariff refunds it gets will flow back to members through 'lower prices and better values'
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- Costco CEO Ron Vachris said the company is committed to returning tariff refund value to members.
- The company is one of hundreds suing the US government for refunds of Trump's IEEPA tariffs.
- "We always want to be the first to lower prices and the last to raise them," Vachris said.
Costco CEO Ron Vachris said the company is committed to returning tariff refund value to members.
"Regarding tariff refunds, it is not yet clear what the process will be, what refunds, if any, will be received, and when this will happen," Vachris said during the wholesale clubs' quarterly earnings call on Thursday.
"When legal challenges have recovered charges passed on in some form to our members, our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value to our members through lower prices and better values," he added.
Costco is one of hundreds of companies suing the US government for refunds of Trump's IEEPA tariffs, which were struck down by the Supreme Court last month.
Vachris said the company has also taken several steps to manage the impact of tariffs on its pricing, including shifting countries of origin for certain items, consolidating global purchases, and leaning into its own Kirkland Signature brand.
Those steps will give the company an advantage as the replacement global tariffs take over from the overturned IEEPA rules, he said. "We believe our expertise in buying and our limited SKU-count model puts us in a position to manage this as well as anyone."
The timing and layering of different tariff rates throughout the year have also made it difficult to track the exact impact on specific items, Vachris said, but the company has lowered prices on items like textiles, bedding, and cookware as some tariffs have decreased.
"At Costco, we always want to be the first to lower prices and the last to raise them," he said.