# Tariff refunds land in 401(k)s

> Companies got $100 billion back from struck-down tariffs, and a few are handing slices of it to the workers who absorbed the pain.
- Title: Tariff refunds land in 401(k)s · Fortune | Shortify
- Summary: Companies got $100 billion back from struck-down tariffs, and a few are handing slices of it to the workers who absorbed the pain. The tariff refund is…
- Keywords: tariffs, 401k, bonuses, retail, wages, Tariff, refunds, land, 401, Fortune
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/09/15/tariff-refunds-employee-bonuses-retirement-funds-williams-sonoma-tjx
- Author: Sasha Rogelberg
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: tariffs, 401k, bonuses, retail, wages
## The Supreme Court broke the tariffs
In March the Court struck down Trump's IEEPA tariffs, forcing the Treasury to start refunding more than $100 billion in import taxes to American companies from May onward.
## Give it to your workers
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC the smartest move for companies receiving the windfall was to pass it straight to employees as bonuses.

> If I were these companies, and somehow they get this windfall, the most important thing and the smartest thing they should do is give it as bonuses to their workers
## Williams Sonoma wired $10 million
The housewares brand set aside $10 million for one-time 401(k) payments to eligible staff, crediting them for navigating the tariffs. Most companies are cutting prices or paying down debt instead.

> We're so appreciative to have the money back and to be able to reward our employees with part of it
## TJX cut bonus checks
TJX collected $331 million in refunds and booked $112 million in extra year-end incentive pay and discretionary bonuses for eligible associates worldwide.
## Workers were a margin all along
Tax Foundation economist Alex Durante notes companies absorb tariffs in several ways: raise prices, cut investment, slow hiring, or trim employee perks and pay. Refund bonuses just run that lever backward.

> Companies have a lot of different margins for how they adjust to tariffs
## Reshoring never happened
The tariffs were sold as a way to bring factories home. U.S. manufacturing jobs shrank by more than 100,000 during the first year of Trump's second term.
## Uncertainty froze hiring and raises
Indeed's Laura Ullrich says supply chain uncertainty stalls hiring decisions. Pantheon analysts found companies also cut raises to defend margins while the tariffs were in force.

> Oftentimes when there is heightened uncertainty, it's just difficult for businesses and people to make decisions in real time
## Retirement takes the slow hit
Economists estimate tariffs will drag stock indices down 7.33% to 10.13% over the next couple of years. A one-time 401(k) deposit lands in a market the same policy weakened.

> It is the case, absolutely, that tariffs do impact capital, and thus the equity markets
## Key takeaway

The tariff refund is flowing to a handful of workers as bonuses and 401(k) deposits, but that money does not replace the 100,000 manufacturing jobs and the raises the tariffs cost them in the first place.