Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in February this year, which overturned President Trump’s previously implemented global tariff policies and initiated some refund procedures, the U.S. International Trade Court is now urging the Trump administration to accelerate the process of refunding billions of dollars in tariffs to thousands of importers.
According to the Hong Kong's South China Morning Post on June 10, Judge Richard Eaton of that court said on June 9 local time, "It is now time to refund all tariffs." He added that delaying the refund of taxes is leading to a "gradual increase in unfairness" between large import merchants and small businesses.
Although the judge did not issue any new directives, Eaton pointed out that the Trump administration recently decided to challenge the directives it had previously issued—requiring the return of “all tariffs” imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), which has led to delays in the tax refund process.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Assistant Commissioner Susan Thomas testified that the agency plans to release remaining duty owed on trade transactions once the relevant deadlines are met. Thomas stated, “We can't process all refund requests at once.”
During Trump's first term in office, American citizens outside of Congress opposed the tariff policy. Photo
According to CBP statistics, of the approximately $166 billion in taxes imposed under current illegal tariff policies, the agency has accepted and started processing refund applications worth about $90 billion. Of this amount, approximately $23 billion in refunds have been processed in the first phase. It is expected that by the end of the entire refund process, the total amount to be returned will reach $127 billion.
Regarding the remaining funds, the Trump administration argues that tariffs that have already undergone the “liquidation” process will not be refunded. This refers to the procedure where importers pay estimated taxes when goods arrive at the country, and the customs authorities then finalize the tariff amount.
CBP previously stated that these already settled tariffs would only be refunded under specific circumstances or when the importer initiates a lawsuit on its own, and this practice may create legal obstacles for small importers.
On June 9th, local time, Judge Eaton referred to the hearing of that day as a so-called ‘negotiations for reconciliation’. Previously, he had ordered CBP Director Rodney Scott to appear in court in person, but he withdrew this request after the U.S. Department of Justice obtained a ruling from an appellate court to delay the execution of this order.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn Trump’s tariff policy based on IEEPA, Eaton began overseeing all related tax refund cases. In April of this year, he ordered the executive branch to refund “all” the funds collected under that regulation.
The U.S. Department of Justice challenged this order and filed an appeal with the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals last week, arguing that the U.S. International Trade Court lacks the judicial authority to issue a universal injunction that applies to all relevant parties and is binding on the government.
However, the plaintiff—the organization V.O.S. Selections, representing five small import businesses—rejected the claims of the Trump administration, stating that the Supreme Court ruling clearly stated: “All entities that have paid the IEEPA tariffs are entitled to receive a refund.”
At the beginning of this month, they filed a motion with the U.S. International Trade Court, seeking to file a class action on behalf of all importers who have not received the “Phase 1” compensation from CBP.
