The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling has triggered substantial refunds for German enterprises, with over €790 million already returned to companies in August alone.
Among the largest recipients is DHL, the global logistics giant. DHL’s chief financial officer, Melanie Kreis, confirmed the company received a total of €416 million in customs duty refunds.
The healthcare sector also saw significant payouts. Siemens Healthineers, a medical technology firm, reported net refunds of approximately 200 million euros by the end of July, according to its chief financial officer, Jochen Schmitz. Laboratory equipment supplier Sartorius received €26 million, while medical and protective equipment supplier Dräger secured about €22 million in refunds.
Sports apparel brand Puma announced customs duty refunds totaling approximately €49 million, while Adidas anticipates a return of between €250 million and €300 million.
The U.S. government has already reimbursed approximately $81.3 billion between October 2025 and the end of June 2026 for duties later canceled by federal courts.
This follows a legal battle initiated by Democrats who filed a class-action lawsuit against tariffs imposed during the Trump administration. The Supreme Court has previously sided with the plaintiffs twice, overturning multiple tariff policies. Over 900 companies sued the U.S. government in February over trade duties they were forced to pay for imports from around the world.
A federal court ordered the Trump administration to begin refunding more than $130 billion collected through tariffs during the previous year. Trump himself acknowledged that, according to the Supreme Court’s decision, the White House would be required to repay $159 billion in fees.
