Welcome to MoneyNerd! The Supreme Court just upended most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and companies want their refunds. We dive into who could get money back — and who won’t. Read on:
Tariff refunds (1,000+ companies are already in line, but consumers can’t sue).
What does the tariff ruling mean for trade policy and prices? (Spoiler: a lot of uncertainty).
Also this week:
Financial lessons from “The Traitors" TV show (strategy is everything).
“I should have bought Punch’s Ikea monkey when I had the chance” (a writer’s lament).
Consumer tech: Samsung’s Galaxy S26 gets pricier. (Is there more to come?)
Money tips (and more!)
Companies are lining up for tariff refunds. What about the rest of us?
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images News via Getty Images)
When the Supreme Court ruled this month that most of President Donald Trump’s second-term tariffs are unconstitutional, it left one big question on the table.
What happens to the billions of dollars collected under tariffs that have now been deemed illegal?
U.S. companies aren’t waiting around for a definitive answer. More than 1,000 of them have already filed requests for refunds (most of them before the ruling came down), including FedEx, Costco, Revlon, Kawasaki, Prada, Staples and Goodyear Tire & Rubber.
Trump has said tariffs are “paid for by foreign countries,” which he repeated in this week’s State of the Union address. Researchers for the New York Fed estimate that 96% of the cost burden of tariffs falls on U.S. companies and consumers.
Ultimately, while companies have absorbed some of those costs, much of the burden is passed down to consumers in the form of higher prices. Estimates vary, but the nonpartisan Tax Foundation has said that tariffs overall cost American households an average of $1,000 in 2025.
Who is eligible for a tariff refund?
U.S. companies that import foreign-made goods or materials, or manufacture goods overseas for distribution in the United States, pay tariffs directly. As such, they have the legal standing to sue to recoup those levies that were collected illegally.
The requests will be handled by the U.S. Court of International Trade. It is not yet clear how the court will handle the process.
Since the decision, White House officials have signaled that a ruling on refunds could be a long and painful process. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on CNN that the issue could take “weeks or months” to play out in courts. Trump said on Friday that the process could take years.
How much money is at stake?
The court’s decision specifically called out tariffs enacted by Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, ruling that the act does not give the president authority to levy tariffs. Tariffs enacted under different mechanisms are not affected.
The United States has collected a bit more than $133 billion in tariffs under IEEPA since last spring, according to figures published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Will consumers see any of that money?
Because consumers pay for tariffs indirectly, through higher prices, they do not have legal standing to sue for refunds.
That hasn’t stopped some prominent Democrats, in the wake of Friday’s decision, to call for refund checks to be paid directly to consumers.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of dividend checks of as much as $2,000 “to our middle-income people and lower-income people” to be paid from tariff revenue, but offered no detailed proposal — and that was before Friday’s Supreme Court decision. Any such action would likely require congressional approval.
In reality, there’s no clear mechanism for refunding consumers if companies — who do have legal standing — are first in line for any tariff-related refunds.
Nerdy tip: When the president first began discussing potential tariff dividend checks, it led to a wave of scam emails and other communications from fraudsters urging users to “act now” to sign up for their check. News in the past week could lead to a resurgence. First rule: Do not click any link related to tariff checks of any kind.
Smart Money: Tariff uncertainty after Supreme Court decision
What does the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling mean for prices and the future of U.S. trade policy? Senior news writer Anna Helhoski unpacks the decision limiting “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) with Lourdes S. Casanova of Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business. They dig into the uncertainty it creates for trading partners, markets, businesses and consumers.
Watch below or get the audio version.
What money worries keep you up at night?
Wondering how the latest economic headlines affect your household? Just plain stressed out about your finances? The Nerds are here to help.
If you’ve got a burning money question you can’t stop thinking about, we want to hear it.
Send your questions to [email protected], and tell us what’s on your mind. We may answer your question in an upcoming newsletter.
Nerdy lessons from ‘The Traitors’
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images News via Getty Images)
The season finale of “The Traitors” — the popular reality show streaming on Peacock — aired last night. (Don’t worry, no spoilers ahead!)
If you’re not familiar, here’s the premise. A group of contestants gather in a Scottish castle to play the ultimate game of strategy. Sniff out the “Traitors” among them and bag hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
This Nerd has watched every episode of every season. I realized that being cast as a contestant is unlikely (a girl can dream!), but the next best thing is applying the show to my real life. And yeah, you guessed it. I work at NerdWallet, so I applied it to my finances.
Here are three money lessons from “The Traitors” — whether you stand to win $250,000 or not:
Strategy is everything. The key to winning is playing the long game. You have to think two steps ahead if you want to win the missions, collect money for the prize pot, avoid banishment, dodge murder and make it to the finale. Your financial life isn’t much different. We’re all juggling competing financial priorities. We want to pay for today’s necessities, save for tomorrow’s wants and prepare for retirement. To do it, first outline what you want to achieve, then make a plan to get there. (See: How to set financial goals.)
Life’s like a roundtable. OK, so no one is getting banished at the roundtable of life. But much like the high-stakes discussion that Alan Cumming hosts each night, your financial decision-making requires careful consideration. And pitfalls are everywhere. Will you step into a Traitor’s trap and banish a Faithful? Aka, could you unknowingly fall victim to a financial scam? Be leery of who you trust with your financial information. (See: How to prevent identify theft.)
Stay prepared. Any contestant can walk away with the grand prize, whether they’re cast as a Faithful or a Traitor. And the winner’s life is forever changed. You, too, may come into a sum of money at some point in your life, whether from a game show, inheritance or investment. Anticipate how you’d react. For example, you’ll likely want to plan for taxes and set aside a portion for savings. (See: What to do with a windfall.)
I should have bought Punch’s Ikea monkey when I had the chance
If you, like me, have become emotionally attached to a zoo animal via social media, then I don’t have to explain the Punch phenomenon to you.
For everyone else, Punch is a baby macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan who had a sad start in life. After he was born, he was abandoned by his mother. The zoo staff stepped in to raise him, aided by a stuffed orangutan as his companion.
Punch went viral earlier this month after the zoo introduced him to the rest of the macaques. Videos and photos soon surfaced of a sad tiny monkey, rejected by other members of the troop. He sat forlorn with only his stuffed orangutan by his side to ease his days. Punch fever exploded after a video showed him being dragged and attacked by an older macaque, sending him fleeing to his orangutan for safety.
The surrogate mama monkey stuffed animal was identified as an Ikea Djungelskog orangutan and, like Punch, it has taken the internet by storm.
Last week I looked up the doll online and was surprised to see it hadn’t sold out yet. My brain — flooded with oxytocin brought on by the sight of a sad, lonely baby monkey being pushed around by bigger monkeys — nudged me to shell out $20 for the plushie. But pragmatism won out, and I shrugged it off as an impulse purchase that I didn’t need.
Ikea soon posted an ad with the same plushie being held around the neck by a stuffed Punch lookalike. The company now labeled the Djungelskog as “Punch’s comfort orangutan.” The Djungelskog quickly sold out. I blew it.
It was the second time in one month that I felt like I missed out on a cultural (albeit, consumerist) moment fueled by social media virality.
Read on to find out why these fads grip us, how scarcity drives spending and the sometimes high cost of jumping on the bandwagon.
Nerdy money tips
Looking at life insurance? Multiply your income by 10. The “10 times income” guideline can be a good starting point to estimate how much life insurance you'll want to ensure your family's needs are met.
Protect your credit with a freeze. Freezing your credit is a free way to guard against identity theft. Learn how to place a credit freeze with all three bureaus.
Renting? Run the numbers before you buy. If you're thinking about making the jump into homeownership, try a rent vs. buy calculator first to see how the costs compare.
- C.N.
Consumer tech: Does Samsung’s Galaxy S26 price hike signal more to come?
Samsung S26 Ultra
Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy smartphone lineup this week. The S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra get some performance and feature bumps, but aren’t drastically different from last year’s.
One difference that might strike you, though, is the price. Both the S26 and S26+ are up $100 from last year — to $899 and $1,099, respectively. Granted the S26 now comes with a base storage of 256GB, up from 128GB. Apple did the same last year — upping the starting storage of the iPhone 17 to 256GB — but kept the starting price at $799.
With the AI boom driving a global chip shortage (memory, not Lay’s), price hikes on popular phones (and other devices that require RAM) could continue. If so, you may want to grip your current phone a little tighter to avoid a drop.
On the other hand, more affordable mid-range devices remain a solid option for upgraders. Last week, Google announced the Pixel 10a, a budget version of the Pixel line, and kept it at the $499 typical price. And next week, on March 4, Apple will host a “special event” where the company is expected to release the successor to its more affordable iPhone 16e, among other goodies.
Check back next week for an update on Apple’s new phone and the value proposition.
Nerdy tip: Here are 7 ways you can lower your cell phone bill.
In case you missed it
Here’s a look at what the Nerds covered this week:
Average rates for a 30-year mortgage are below 6%, hitting their lowest level since 2022.
The travel Nerds broke down what you need to know about how the TSA is affected by the current government shutdown.
Personal finance Nerd Kim Palmer answered some of February’s top money questions, including how to check your credit score.
Kim also chatted with personal finance author Beth Pinsker in 2026’s first installment of the NerdWallet Book Club.
Have you heard of a debt snowball? No, we’re not talking about the weather. The Nerds explained how to pay off your debt with the smallest balance first — like a snowball gaining momentum.
A budget can be tough to stick to, so we created a five-step guide for building a family budget that will last.
Elsewhere in money news:
FedEx has sued the U.S. government for a full refund of tariffs. (CNBC)
Amazon is expected to spend $12 billion on AI data centers in Louisiana. (Reuters) 🔒
Netflix walked away from its bid to acquire Warner Bros. after Paramount submitted a higher offer. (Associated Press)
Economists said AI contributed nothing to U.S. growth in 2025, but that claim may be based on a technicality. (Washington Post) 🔒
Your MoneyNerd team: Courtney Neidel, Anna Helhoski, Rick VanderKnyff.
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Until next week,
