US court orders refunds of ‘Trump tariffs’, billions at stake

A US trade court has ordered US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin processing refunds—plus interest—for “reciprocal” tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) after the US Supreme Court found the levies were unlawfully imposed.

Judge Richard Eaton of the US Court of International Trade in Manhattan directed the government to re-finalise (“liquidate”) affected import entries without the unlawful tariffs and reimburse importers with interest, a move that could amount to billions of dollars.

Under US customs procedures, importers typically pay estimated duties when goods enter the United States, with the final calculation made later in the liquidation process.

Eaton said CBP is familiar with the process, while setting another hearing for Friday to track progress on CBP’s refund plan.

CBP has warned the task is unprecedented in scale, telling the court it may need to review more than 70 million import entries and that much of the work could require manual processing.

The agency has previously said it could need up to four months to determine how to carry out refunds.

The government collected more than US$130 billion under the tariffs, according to court reporting, with more than 300,000 importers affected and around 2,000 cases filed seeking refunds. O

ne of the lead cases was brought by Atmus Filtration, which said it paid about US$11 million in the tariffs.

Reuters reported that many importers—especially small businesses—are hoping for a simple, low-cost refund mechanism, as some have said they may abandon claims if forced into lengthy litigation or complex administrative steps.