WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday turned down the Trump administration’s request to delay the billion-dollar process of repaying tariffs that the Supreme Court declared unlawful last month.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit moved the case forward to a lower court to handle the next steps in the refund proceedings.
Last Friday, attorneys for the Trump Justice Department had asked the Federal Circuit to take a cautious approach and wait 90 days before proceeding. However, the court declined this request.
On February 20, the Supreme Court determined that Trump’s extensive tariffs imposed on most nations worldwide violated the law, opening the door for importers who paid these fees to pursue reimbursement.
By mid-December, the federal government had gathered over $130 billion through these tariffs, and according to Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates, could face refund obligations totaling $175 billion.
However, the Supreme Court provided no direction regarding repayments in its ruling, not even addressing the refund issue. The U.S. Court of International Trade in New York will now determine how this complex reimbursement process should move forward.
Trade attorney Ryan Majerus, who works as a partner at King & Spalding and previously served as a U.S. trade official, shared his expectations: “I would expect the Court of International Trade to quickly issue an order requesting a status update from the government on their plans with respect to refunds (or expedited briefing). I expect the court to take an aggressive posture, asking the government to justify how they intend to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling.”
Siddartha Rao, a partner at Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney law firm, reported receiving numerous client inquiries about the situation.
“We are somewhat in uncharted territory,” he explained.
The Trump administration has been working to implement new tariffs to replace those invalidated by the Supreme Court.
Rao noted that one major concern involves how the government will actually fund these refunds.
“Everyone is sort of cognizant of the fact that it’s not like there’s over a hundred billion dollars sitting in, you know, in a room somewhere to just cut checks,” Rao explained. “So, you know, this is a Treasury problem, and it may very well be that the administration is reimposing tariffs for the reasons that it’s cited … it’s important for strategic trade agreements and for bargaining power and all of that. But it also might be that they need to raise revenue to pay out refunds.”
