A federal court on Monday (local time) rejected the Trump administration’s bid to delay repayment of billions in tariffs that the Supreme Court recently ruled illegal, the AP reported.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit expedited the refund process by remanding the case to a lower court for further proceedings.
In a court filing Friday, Trump’s Justice Department urged the Federal Circuit to proceed with caution and delay 90 days. But the judges refused.
On February 20, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s sweeping tariffs on most countries are illegal, allowing importers who paid them to seek refunds.
By mid-December, the government had collected more than $130 billion in tariffs, and according to calculations by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, the AP reported, it could eventually be set for $175 billion worth of refunds.
However, the Supreme Court offered no guidance on refunds; his decision didn’t even mention them. Now the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York will decide how the complex refund process should proceed, the AP reported.
“I would expect the Court of International Trade to quickly issue an order seeking a status update from the government on their plans with respect to refunds (or an expedited briefing),” said trade attorney Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official. “I expect the court to take an aggressive stance and ask the government to justify how they intend to comply with the Supreme Court decision.”
Siddartha Rao, a partner at law firm Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, said clients often call him with questions, the AP reported.
“We are somewhat in uncharted territory,” he said.
The Trump administration has sought new tariffs to replace those struck down by the Supreme Court.
One question, he said, is how the government could actually pay for those refunds.
“Everybody’s kind of aware of the fact that it’s not like there’s over a hundred billion dollars sitting somewhere, you know, in a room where they’re just writing checks,” Rao said. “So, you know, this is a Treasury issue, and it could very well be that the administration is reimposing tariffs for the reasons that are being cited … it’s important for strategic trade agreements and for bargaining power and so on. But it could also be that they need to raise revenue to pay the refunds.”
