Importers Launch Tariff Refund Process After Supreme Court Win

A group of small businesses that successfully challenged President Donald Trump’s global tariffs before the US Supreme Court have asked lower courts to reopen the legal proceedings so that they can begin the process of seeking refunds from the government.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the challengers asked the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to formalize its ruling last year declaring Trump’s so-called “reciprocal” tariffs unlawful, which a majority of the Supreme Court upheld on Feb. 20.

Once that happens, the fight will return to the US Court of International Trade to determine next steps, including whether the importers must get their money back. Also on Tuesday, attorneys for the group of small businesses filed a request in the trade court asking a three-judge panel to enter a fresh injunction blocking the administration from enforcing the tariff policy and initiating the refund process.

Read More: Trump Faces Tough Legal Landscape to Oppose Tariff Refunds

The businesses aren’t asking the trade court for a nationwide order, saying that’s unnecessary because the government can’t impose the tariffs “on anyone without violating the Supreme Court’s decision.” But they suggested that the trade court could consider merging all of the tariff lawsuits “to ensure the fair and prompt resolution.”

More than 1,500 refund lawsuits have been filed to date, according to a Bloomberg News analysis.

In written filings last year, Justice Department lawyers told the trade court that the small businesses that sued would get refunds with interest if they won.

“We’re trying to hold the government to their word,” Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel and director of litigation at Liberty Justice Center, which has represented the businesses, said in an interview.

Immediately after the Supreme Court announced its decision in the tariff case, Trump made comments suggesting the government might oppose paying refunds.

“I guess it has to get litigated,” the president said at the time. He also speculated that the issue might take years to resolve.

Importers have paid approximately $170 billion on tariffs so far. Schwab said the president’s statements made “things a little murkier,” so they are hoping for clarity from the trade court as soon as possible.

“Hopefully the Justice Department attorneys will work with us and it will be an easy process,” he said.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department and the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The small businesses that brought one of the cases that went before the justices didn’t specify how much money they’re seeking to recoup. Their lawyers told the trade court on Tuesday that any refund process adopted in the case could serve as a “template for providing swift relief” for the rest of the companies pursuing claims.

The bulk of the tariff refund lawsuits were filed by importers after the Supreme Court heard arguments in November, and the trade court put them all on hold until the justices ruled. The Justice Department hasn’t said how it intends to proceed yet.

Trade lawyers told Bloomberg News that they expect the administration will face a difficult legal landscape contesting refunds. The Justice Department not only had said that the original plaintiffs would get repaid, but also that the government would concede key issues related to refunds in other cases. The administration had made those statements in urging judges to allow officials to continue collecting the levies while the court fight played out.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts that Trump unlawfully imposed the tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Shortly after the Supreme Court announced its decision, Trump signed a proclamation imposing a new round of global tariffs under a different authority, the Trade Act of 1974.

Legal experts have predicted that the administration is likely to face challenges to those levies as well.

(Updates with details from court filings.)

--With assistance from Catherine Lucey.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Zoe Tillman in Washington at ztillman2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman

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