A group of 22 Democrats in the US Senate introduced legislation on Monday that would require President Donald Trump’s administration to fully return within 180 days all revenue, including interest, collected from tariffs struck down by the US Supreme Court.
The legislation would require the Customs and Border Protection agency, which collects duties at U.S. ports of entry, to prioritize small businesses.
The Supreme Court on Friday gave no guidance on any refunds when it struck down Trump’s broad tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), instead sending the case back to a lower commercial court to determine next steps.
What is the new Bill looking for?
The Democrats’ legislation would require CBP to refund all IEEPA-based duties illegally imposed by Trump, plus interest, even if the import duties have been finalized or “liquidated” by CBP.
The 22 Democrats who co-sponsored the bill included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrats on the Senate Finance, Small Business and Foreign Relations Committees.
“Senate Democrats will continue to fight to rein in Donald Trump’s price-raising trade and economic policies,” Wyden said in a statement.
“A critical first step is to help the people who need it most by putting money back into the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible.”
A spokesman for Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota declined to comment on whether the Democratic bill would be considered.
But given that the bill has just been introduced and must go through committee review, a decision to consider it would likely be the way to go. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the Republican-controlled House would avoid the issue of returning the tariffs.
“The White House is going to figure it out, and we have to give them time and space to do it. This is obviously an unprecedented event, so there’s no playbook to follow,” said Johnson, Republican of Louisiana.
“I think they (the White House) have good arguments on their side, and we’ll see how that shakes out. It’s not something that really concerns the House at this point.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legislation.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that the administration would follow lower court rulings on the refund. “We will follow what they decide, but it could be weeks or months before we hear from them,” Bessent said on CNN.
CBP is scheduled to stop collecting IEEPA tariffs at 05:01 EST (05:01 GMT) on Tuesday.
Reuters reported on Friday that the Supreme Court’s ruling made the IEEPA’s tariff collection more than $175 billion subject to potential refunds, based on an estimate by Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists.
Their estimate from a baseline forecasting model showed that IEEPA-based tariffs generated more than $500 million a day in gross revenue.
