The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs didn’t include guidance on how to handle refunds, so administration officials said they will wait for lower courts to do that.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was asked if the White House will fight efforts to seek compensation or pay out refunds.
He replied that it’s up to the courts, noting that the U.S. Court of International Trade has previously taken a strong hand in determining the process for refunds.
“So it’s a matter for the courts,” Greer added. “They created the situation, and we’ll follow whatever they say to do.”
That’s after Trump attempted to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for the first time as a vehicle for imposing tariffs when he unveiled his “Liberation Day” duties last year.
The tariffs were quickly challenged in court. While arguing the case last spring, Justice Department lawyers acknowledged that if the tariffs were deemed unlawful, then the government would issue refunds to the plaintiffs.
DOJ also made those assurances to argue that courts shouldn’t grant plaintiffs emergency relief from the tariffs and instead let them stand during the legal proceedings.
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld lower-court decisions that the IEEPA tariffs were indeed illegal, prompting Trump to announce a fresh set of global levies under a different law.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who indicated last year that a ruling against the administration would entail refunds, also deferred to the lower courts.
“I’m not going to get out ahead of the court,” he told CNN 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.”
More than $130 billion in revenue collected under the IEEPA tariffs is at stake. A New York Fed study found that U.S. consumers and companies have paid 90% of Trump’s import taxes, despite his claims that other countries are shouldering the burden.
Ahead of the Supreme Court decision, companies like Costco that paid the levies filed lawsuits to help ensure they get their money back.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was one of three dissenters in the ruling, called out his colleagues in the majority for avoiding the issue and warned the refund process will likely be a “mess.”
“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 said.
To be sure, the government has paid refunds after similar cases in the past. The Customs and Border Protection agency also has a process in place for refunding duties when importers can prove an error.
But trade lawyer Joyce Adetutu, a partner at the Vinson & Elkins law firm, told the Associated Press 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 they may be forced to go to court to get their money back.
