alt Hacker NewsThe smartest comment I've seen was a proposal to use a negative tariff until the refunds are offset. At least in that case there is some bit of chance that the consumer gets their money back since the supply curve should shift up lowering apparent prices until the negative tax fades off. I'm sure many will point out all the flaws with that and the fact some of it will be captured as profit anyway, but it seems better than dumping 100% of it to profit which is what happens if you just refund to the importer of record.
I don't think that would be a good idea for two reasons:
1. Trump could decide what to apply the negative tariff to (e.g. Trump merchandise or his buddies)
2. If there's a fixed amount of money to dole out and suppliers know it, approximately zero dollars will be given back to consumers because it will be easy to capture the money on the importer side.