Trump plans to appeal order allowing all importers that paid struck-down tariffs to seek refunds

President Donald Trump plans to appeal a federal judge’s order requiring the government to refund all importers that paid tariffs the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. The administration’s appeal could halt refunds that have already reached some businesses, with Customs and Border Protection reporting it has processed $20.6 billion in repayments out of an estimated $166 billion owed. The case centers on whether the court’s ruling entitles every company that paid the invalidated duties to seek refunds, not just those that filed lawsuits.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready... By Mae Anderson | Associated Press NEW YORK — Businesses big and small have started receiving tariff refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-tariffs-trump-0485fcda30a7310501123e4931dba3f9 that President Donald Trump lacked the constitutional authority to impose higher import taxes on goods from nearly every other country. The process could grind to a halt, however, after the Trump administration said Friday that it intended to appeal a federal judge’s order https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariff-refunds-09cd60a170d01d8d62739ab13086ff9e to allow all companies that paid the invalidated duties to seek refunds, not just the ones that filed lawsuits. Until the Department of Justice informed the judge of its planned appeal, the refund system overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection had been working fairly smoothly. Refunds reached the bank accounts of the first successful applicants on May 12, about three weeks after importers and their customs brokers could start submitting claims https://apnews.com/article/tariff-refund-trump-customs-08861f153801156d213c30c4e2f6a683 through an online system, according to CBP. Applications for refunds totaling $85 billion — more than half of the $166 billion the agency estimated the government owes https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trump-trade-275f146dbc591bab1730a911e04aa8ea to companies that paid the tariffs on imported goods — were accepted for processing as of May 22, CBP reported in a legal filing earlier in the week. It said it had so far directed the Treasury Department to issue $20.6 billion in refunds. The administration revealed its appeal preparations while objecting to a demand by Judge Richard K. Eaton for CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to appear in the U.S. Court of International Trade https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-court-4a2b662a908d1d6cec057d88c5059502 to answer questions about how long it would take to repay all 330,000 importers that might be eligible for refunds. The judge has scheduled a June 9 hearing on why he shouldn’t require the government do whatever it takes to speed up https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trump-refunds-supreme-court-cc2ace8576e59d10034e7e525737539d the process. Justice Department lawyers asked Eaton to allow one or two of Scott’s deputies to appear in his place, arguing that as a high-ranking presidential appointee, the CBP chief could not be compelled to testify in court. They also argued that Eaton exceeded his own authority when he determined in March that the Supreme Court’s ruling entitled “all importers of record’’ to refunds. “For that reason, defendants intend to appeal the court’s universal injunction,” the lawyers wrote, adding that CBP would continue to move “as quicky as it can to process refunds in a phased approach” for businesses that filed https://apnews.com/article/costco-tariffs-supreme-court-trump-illegal-86203801e7a0f690d333c087b9db844f some 485 pending trade court complaints to assert their rights to refunds. In a terse reply Friday, Eaton said he needed to hear directly from Scott whether the government would return all of the money it collected between when Trump put what he called “reciprocal” tariffs https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-liberation-day-2a031b3c16120a5672a6ddd01da09933 on most countries in April 2025 and when the Supreme Court struck them down in late February. “This case involves $166 billion,” the judge wrote. “It is undisputed that the remedy for this unlawful collection is for the United States government to refund the unlawfully collected duties.” Some national retail chains said they planned to use their tariff refunds https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariff-refunds-supreme-court-b7e9fe351468a1f31974fb27a4e4d44a refunds to lower customer prices on some items. Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told analysts https://apnews.com/article/walmart-firstquarter-earnings-inflation-a90b333a38bbba37847cfc8b5b2c7e8a last week that the company would implement price cuts even though the maximum refund it might be eligible for represented less than half of 1% of Walmart’s $483 billion in annual U.S. sales. Some smaller companies told The Associated Press that the partial refunds they’ve received so far would go toward paying remaining or future tariffs https://apnews.com/article/trump-ieepa-tariffs-supreme-court-12487645072a1e1a387db60081509f3c , reducing debt or just keeping the lights on after more than a year of uncertainty and additional import costs. Jay Foreman, CEO of toy company Basic Fun, said he received about $450,000, or 7% of his total claim, over two consecutive days this month. He took the initial repayment as a positive sign but said that after having less than $10,000 refunded since then, the process seemed like a “total slow roll.” “It’s time to release the funds back into the economy, especially given how much we and others need these funds to support our businesses and fund our operations,” Foreman said.