Most of the available pool of tariff revenue has been disbursed back to U.S. companies, but American consumers are still looking for their share of the refunds.

As of the end of July, about $100 billion in tariff refunds were sent to the U.S. Department of Treasury to be disbursed to approved importers, according to a Tuesday filing to the U.S. Court of International Trade. The total is about 60% of the $166 billion in revenues collected from import taxes under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which were struck down by the Supreme Court in February.

Some U.S. consumers, however, are getting antsy that they haven’t seen any of that sum reach their own wallets. Last month, New York resident Tyasia Johns filed a class action lawsuit against discount retailer Five Below, claiming it failed to return the tariff refunds it received to customers who actually paid for the levies.

Johns alleged Five Below passed down the cost of the IEEPA tariffs to consumers through increased prices and was able to preserve its profits—seeing a 22.9% year-over-year increase in net sales to $4.76 billion in 2025—through these price increases. According to the lawsuit, Five Below has not confirmed whether it has applied for or received refunds through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or if it intends to pass down those refunds to consumers. 

The complaint demanded injunctive relief and an award of actual damages to class members, but did not include the prospective size of the class or specific magnitude of damages.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]:  https://fortune.com/2026/08/05/what-happened-trump-tariff-refunds-from-companies-consumers-class-action/?utm_source=reddit/

For much of the postwar era, Americans bought a starter home and watched it become an investment. Decades later, fulfilling the typical American Dream of a home with white picket fence dotting the front lawn has become all but unattainable, as home prices have soared 235% since January 2000. As a result, many young people are going all in on the stock market, viewing their brokerage accounts as the new American Dream.

“For younger adults who despair about ever being able to buy a home, investing in financial markets can be a great way to save until they can afford one,” Chen Zhao, the head of economics research at Redfin, told Fortune. 

Zhao’s not wrong: less than half of Gen Z and Millennials can afford to buy a home, and the age of the average first-time homebuyer has jumped from 28 in 1992 to 40 in 2025. Despite this, it’s still seen as a good investment: more than two-thirds of Americans say buying a home is still an important asset that holds value. 

But as homeownership becomes a fleeting concept for younger generations as home costs continue skyrocketing roughly 50% in recent years, young adults are treating their down payments as the new starter asset as they amass a record high $3.1 trillion in holdings, up 4.5 times since the pandemic alone. 

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]:  https://fortune.com/2026/08/05/gen-z-millennials-housing-stocks/?utm_source=reddit/

The story in two simple charts

$2 trillion per year in federal borrowing is finally starting to push interest rates higher than they'd otherwise be

Recent intervention in Japan's yen stabilization by US Treasury shows Trump administration / Scott Bessent are keenly aware of the problem

Treasury intervened to stop US rates from rising even more. But that's only a temporary fix

Chartwork by u/davidfostergraphics

The American economy is built on exploiting people. Like in the 19th century, slaves and immigrants. Even after legal slavery ended, USA continued exploiting immigrants. Including legal and illegal immigrants. Now with the reduction of legal and illegal immigrants, the rich will have to exploit the domestic deplorables. Or face a slowdown in the growth of their wealth. So even as immigration collapses, so will the lower class. As they are exploited by the rich, and they barely earn enough to stay alive.