Federal court rejects Trump administration attempt to slow tariff refund
process
[March 03, 2026] By
PAUL WISEMAN and MAE ANDERSON
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal court on Monday rejected the Trump
administration’s attempt to slow the process of refunding billions of
dollars’ worth of tariffs the Supreme Court struck down as illegal last
month.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit started the next phase
in the refund process by sending it to a lower court to sort out.
In a court filing Friday, Trump’s Justice Department had urged the
Federal Circuit to proceed cautiously and hold off for 90 days. But the
judges refused.
The Supreme Court ruled Feb. 20 that Trump’s sweeping tariffs on most
countries in the world were illegal, clearing the way for the importers
who paid them to seek refunds.
The government had collected more than $130 billion from the tariffs by
mid-December, and could ultimately be on the hook for refunds worth $175
billion, according to calculations by the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
But the Supreme Court offered no guidance on refunds; its decision did
not even mention them. Now the U.S. Court of International Trade in New
York will decide how the complicated refund process should proceed.
“I would expect the Court of International Trade to quickly issue an
order requesting a status update from the government on their plans with
respect to refunds (or expedited briefing),” said trade lawyer Ryan
Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official.
“I expect the court to take an aggressive posture, asking the government
to justify how they intend to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling.”
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A FedEx cargo plane is shown on the tarmac at Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Tuesday, April 20, 2021,
in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
 Siddartha Rao, a partner at law firm
Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, said he has been getting a lot of
calls from clients with questions.
“We are somewhat in uncharted territory,” he said.
The Trump administration has been reaching for new tariffs to
replace the ones the Supreme Court struck down.
One question, he said, is how the government might actually pay for
these refunds.
“Everyone is sort of cognizant of the fact that it’s not like
there’s over a hundred billion dollars sitting in, you know, in a
room somewhere to just cut checks,” Rao said. “So, you know, this is
a Treasury problem, and it may very well be that the administration
is reimposing tariffs for the reasons that it’s cited ... it’s
important for strategic trade agreements and for bargaining power
and all of that. But it also might be that they need to raise
revenue to pay out refunds.”
____
Mae Anderson reported from New York.
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