Looking for a tariff refund? Trump officials say they’re waiting for lower courts to provide guidance. ‘They created the situation’
Administration officials have stated they will await instructions from lower courts regarding refunds for President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, as the Supreme Court’s decision to strike them down did not provide specific guidance on the matter.
During an interview on News Sunday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was questioned about the White House’s stance on compensation or refund efforts.
Greer indicated that the responsibility lies with the courts, referencing the U.S. Court of International Trade’s past role in defining refund processes.
“So it’s a matter for the courts,” Greer stated. “They created the situation, and we’ll follow whatever they say to do.”
This follows President Trump’s attempt to utilize the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for the first time to implement tariffs, which he announced as “Liberation Day” duties last year.
The tariffs faced immediate legal challenges. During arguments last spring, Justice Department lawyers conceded that if the tariffs were found to be unlawful, the government would issue refunds to the plaintiffs.
On Friday, the Supreme Court affirmed lower-court rulings that the IEEPA tariffs were indeed illegal, leading President Trump to announce a new set of global levies under a different legislative authority.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had previously suggested that a ruling against the administration would necessitate refunds, also deferred to the lower courts.
“I’m not going to get out ahead of the court,” he said on Sunday. “We will follow the court’s direction. But as I said that could be weeks or months away. That decision was not rendered on Friday.”
The potential refunds involve over $130 billion in revenue collected under the IEEPA tariffs. A study by the New York Fed indicated that the burden of Trump’s import taxes fell on American consumers, contrary to his assertions that other countries were bearing the cost.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, companies such as [Company Name] that paid these levies initiated lawsuits to secure the return of their funds.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of the three dissenting justices, criticized his colleagues in the majority for sidestepping the refund issue, predicting that the process would likely be complicated.
“The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers,” he remarked.
Historically, the government has provided refunds in similar cases. The Customs and Border Protection agency also has established procedures for refunding duties when importers can demonstrate an error.
However, trade lawyer Joyce Adetutu, a partner at Vinson & Elkins, suggested that “the government is well-positioned to make this as difficult as possible” for importers seeking refunds.
“I can see a world where they push as much responsibility as possible onto the importer,’’ she added, speculating that importers might need to resort to legal action to recover their money.