Tariff Court Order Raises Importers’ Refund Hopes for Now

Trade lawyers are telling clients to be prepared to fight for tariff refunds, even after a federal trade court ordered US Customs and Border Protection to automatically pay back importers.

The US Court of International Trade Wednesday put the burden of processing the large volume of refunds on Customs, not importers, following the Supreme Court’s February decision overturning some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The order also affirmed that the trade court believes all importers should be eligible for refunds, not just the ones who filed lawsuits.

The order made very clear what the trade court’s position is: “If the Supreme Court says tariffs are illegal, then everyone—literally everyone—should get a refund,” said Ted Murphy, a partner at Sidley Austin.

That could still change if the government appeals, which is likely. And the order doesn’t necessarily mean anyone is getting their money back immediately.

“There’s probably a little bit of celebration right now, which is appropriate,” said Mike Snarr, partner at BakerHostetler. “But we’ve got to keep watching to see how this is going to be resolved.”

If it stands, the order would answer some of companies’ most important questions about how the roughly $170 billion in duties paid under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act might be refunded after the Supreme Court last month said that law didn’t give Trump tariff authority.

Refunds for All

Under the order, importers wouldn’t have to file lawsuits at the trade court to get a refund—as roughly 2,000 companies have already done. And for most entries, the length of time that passed since an import was received wouldn’t affect its eligibility for a refund.

The trade court’s order “firmly states that importers who paid invalidated tariffs are owed refunds, and now CBP must act,” said Alexis Early, a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.

But Snarr said he’s still telling clients to file administrative protests with Customs to preserve their refund rights.

Murphy said his firm is advising clients to both pursue administrative recourse and considering filing their own court action.

The order “is very interesting, but we’re not recommending clients bank on it, because of the almost certain appeal,” Murphy said. “Who knows how long that takes?”

For example, the government could argue that the court’s order is too broad for its authority, he said.

Recalculation

Judge Richard Eaton said all importers whose entries were subject to IEEPA duties are entitled to the benefits of the Supreme Court decision. The order instructs Customs to finalize entries that haven’t been finalized and re-process some of those that have, removing the IEEPA tariffs from the calculation.

Importers pay tariffs when their goods enter the country. In the Customs process known as liquidation, tariffs are finalized up to 314 days after the date of entry. If there is an error in how a tariff was calculated, importers may owe or be paid back some of their tariff payment.

In effect, trade attorneys said, the judge’s order appears to be an instruction for Customs to recalculate what would have been owed if the IEEPA tariffs weren’t in place and pay back the difference.

“What the court has wisely done here is said, ‘No matter what stage of the process your Customs entry are in, the tariffs you paid were invalidated, and you should get your money back,’” Early said.

Question About Liquidation

Attorneys pointed to one uncertainty with the order. The trade court judge said, “Any liquidated entries for which liquidation is not final shall be reliquidated without regard to IEEPA duties.”

Snarr said the judge could be referring to the 90-day period after liquidation in which Customs can still voluntarily reliquidate an entry, but it’s not entirely clear.

The case is Atmus Filtration v. US, Ct. Int’l Trade, No. 1:26-cv-01259, order issued 3/4/26.