Philips reclaims €186m after Supreme Court rules tariffs illegal

Health technology firm Philips has received an €186 million windfall after the United States Supreme Court ordered Donald Trump’s administration to refund illegally imposed tariffs.

The figures were included in the Amsterdam-based company’s latest quarterly report, which was published this week.

Trump imposed import tariffs on products from dozens of countries, as well as the European Union, in April last year.

But in February the Supreme Court upheld a judgment by a lower court that the president had wrongly used emergency powers to introduce the tariffs.

The US government was also ordered to refund and compensate companies that had paid the tariffs or whose business had been damaged as a result.

CEO Roy Jakobs said: “We started a legal case as soon as we could, which is why we are one of the first to get our money back.” Most of the repayments have already been made.

The extra income helped Philips increase its turnover by 4% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026. It recorded a profit of €386 million, but declining orders in both China and the US meant its share price dived by 10% on Tuesday.

Philips was founded in 1891 as a lightbulb manufacturer in Eindhoven and grew into one of the world’s largest producers of consumer electronics in the 20th century. Since 2010 it has focused on producing healthcare equipment.