Following a Supreme Court decision that invalidated tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump on imports from most countries, U.S. businesses have started receiving refunds. However, the refund process faces uncertainty as the Trump administration announced its intention to appeal a federal judge's directive that widened refund eligibility to all importers who paid the struck-down tariffs, not only those who had filed lawsuits.
Refund claims began flowing into U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, with the agency processing tens of billions of dollars in repayments. By late May, CBP had accepted applications for refunds totaling $85 billion—more than half of the estimated $166 billion government liability—and directed over $20 billion to be paid out. The system had operated smoothly until the Department of Justice revealed plans to contest the judge’s decision.
Judge Richard K. Eaton ordered CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to testify about the timeline for reimbursing roughly 330,000 importers potentially eligible for refunds. The Department of Justice requested that deputies appear in Scott’s stead, citing his status as a senior presidential appointee and disputing the judge’s authority in widening refund rights to all importers of record. The administration’s lawyers stated they plan to appeal the universal injunction while continuing a phased refund rollout, prioritizing roughly 485 pending cases from importers who initially sought refunds through litigation.
Judge Eaton emphasized the case's financial magnitude, underlining that the government must repay the unlawfully collected tariffs, totaling $166 billion. Some large national retailers have indicated plans to pass tariff refunds onto consumers through lower prices on select products.