Lululemon sued over tariff price hikes that shoppers say never went away

Lululemon is facing a new lawsuit centered on a frustration many shoppers know well: prices that rise quickly but do not always come back down.

The complaint alleges that the athleisure company raised prices due to tariffs, then kept the added revenue even after the tariffs ended.

What's happening?

In a lawsuit filed on June 30 in federal court, the law firm Hagens Berman and co-counsel The Miller Law Firm accused Lululemon of taking in hundreds of millions of dollars from consumers through tariff-related price increases.

According to Business Wire, the filing traces those price increases to February 2025, after the Trump administration imposed import tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

After the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs, Lululemon filed a case in the U.S. Court of International Trade to recoup the tariff payments it had made.

The consumer suit says that even if Lululemon recovers those funds, the company has not promised to return any of that money to customers who allegedly paid higher prices due to the tariffs. It claims unjust enrichment and alleges violations of state consumer-protection laws.

Why is this concerning?

The lawsuit points to public estimates that the tariffs would cut Lululemon's gross profit by roughly $240 million, according to Business Wire. Critics argue that if shoppers paid higher prices because of those tariffs and the company is later reimbursed, consumers could end up absorbing the cost while Lululemon gets its money back.

Clothing is already a significant household expense, and higher retail prices can put even more pressure on budgets as families also face elevated costs for groceries, housing, and transportation.

What's being done?

The lawsuit seeks to hold Lululemon accountable for what the plaintiffs describe as an unfair pricing strategy. If the case succeeds, it could open the door to restitution or other remedies.

The filing says other retailers affected by the same tariffs created refund programs for customers who had paid more because of those added costs, while Lululemon allegedly did not.

"Lululemon admitted publicly that tariffs drove up its costs and forced the company to raise prices," said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman, according to Business Wire. "Now that the tariffs have been ruled unlawful, Lululemon stands to recover millions - money that came from consumers and belongs to them."

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