Tariff refund class actions lodged vs Ikea, Mondelez, Abercrombie & Fitch

By Jonathan Bilyk | Legal Newsline
The Center Square

Trial lawyers have added furniture seller Ikea, snack food giant Mondelez International, and retailer Abercrombie & Fitch to the list of companies facing class action lawsuits for allegedly improperly profiting from hiking prices to cover tariffs illegally imposed by President Trump.

In late May, lawsuits were filed against each of the companies in Cook County Circuit Court.

Attorneys from the firm of McGuire Law, of Chicago, filed the lawsuits against Pennsylvania-based Ikea and Chicago-based Mondelez.

Lawyers from the firm of Stephan Zouras, of Chicago, filed the complaint against Abercrombie & Fitch, which is based in Ohio.

The lawsuits represented the latest in a growing raft of litigation filed in courts in Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S. accusing retailers and other companies of allegedly attempting to claim “windfall profits” from consumers following the end of the tariff regimes established by President Donald Trump in 2025 under the federal International Emergency Economics Act.

While many of the lawsuits have been leveled against parcel and shipping company FedEx, other lawsuits have been lodged against warehouse retailer Costco; Chinese online discount sellers Temu and Shein; and activewear seller Fabletics, among others.

Some of the lawsuits date back to the early spring, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court declared Trump had improperly relied upon the IEEA law to unilaterally impose the tariffs on many countries, particularly including China, without authorization from Congress.

The lawsuits all rest on similar allegations: That the companies hiked consumer prices in response to cover their increased costs from the tariffs, but, after the tariffs were rescinded, have not lowered their prices or offered consumers a refund, even as they pursue legal action to obtain refunds from the government for the illegal tariffs they paid throughout much of 2025.

Some of the companies targeted by the lawsuits have pushed back in court. Costco, for instance, has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit pending against it. The retailer has argued it hasn’t yet received a refund. And even if it does, Costco says the lawsuit’s claims have no legal ground to stand on, because the company never defrauded anyone or violated any state consumer fraud law.

“It does not matter whether plaintiff paid a higher price then he thinks he should have paid,” Costco wrote in a brief in support of its motion to dismiss.

Temu and Shein have sought to redirect the class action lawsuits against them into arbitration, saying user agreements prohibit the lawsuits.

In the latest cases, Ikea, Mondelez and Abercrombie all have not yet responded to the claims in court.

However, those lawsuits also rest on claims that the companies violated Illinois’ consumer fraud law by allegedly showing no indication of refunding any of the additional money collected to cover the cost of the tariffs, even as the companies allegedly pursue refunds from the federal government.

The lawsuits against Ikea and Mondelez were filed on behalf of named plaintiffs John Adams and Adam Sorkin, respectively, identified only as residents of Cook County.

According to the complaints, Sorkin purchased Halls cough drops, Triscuit snack crackers, and Sour Patch Kids candy, all products made by Mondelez, in 2025 and early 2026, while Adams made 15 purchases from Ikea from May-August 2025.

The lawsuit against Abercrombie was filed on behalf of named plaintiff Luciana Di Lorenzo, identified only as a resident of Illinois, who purchased $400 worth of merchandise from Abercrombie & Fitch from August 2025 to January 2026.

All of the plaintiffs said the prices they paid for their purchases were increased, ostensibly to account for Trump’s IEEA tariffs.

The lawsuits all seek to expand the action to include potentially hundreds of thousands or even millions of class members throughout the U.S. who allegedly were similarly overcharged.