Customs and Border Protection Says it Cant’ Comply with the Court’s Tariff Refund Order

Towards the end of February, the Supreme Court struck down tariffs enacted by the Trump administration. The vote was 6-3 and generally the justices ruled that Trump exceeded the powers given to him by Congress under a 1977 law providing the President the authority to regulate commerce during national emergencies that are due to foreign threats. What was undecided at the time was what should happen to all of the money paid already due to the tariffs.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has told a Court of International Trade judge that it isn’t able to comply with an order to begin refunding the reciprocal tariffs. The CBP said in their response that the estimated amount related to the tariffs is “approximately $166 billion.” According to the filing over 330,000 importers have made over 53 million entries.

The court response, which you can read below, involves the CBP process and when things are go through it, focusing on “liquidation.” “Liquidation” is the finalization of the total tariff amount owed. Senior Judge Richard Eaton had ordered the CBP to liquidate unprocessed entries and reliquidate those that have been processed but not finalized.

The refund that has been ordered focuses on shippers who paid the IEEPA tariffs on imports that have not been finalized via liquidation, a process that can take around 300 days. You can read some thoughts on the complexity of the situation here.

The Trump administration has been sued by hundreds of corporations looking to be refunded for the tariffs that have been paid under the IEEPA.

What also remains unanswered is if consumers will see any relief either in money returned or retail prices going down. Corporations passed along the increased cost of doing business to consumers who saw price increases at the store and some have been hit with tariffs directly when ordering internationally.