Trump administration warns tariff refund process ‘will take time’ | Trump tariffs
The Trump administration has said that reimbursing the tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court “will take time,” according to court documents filed by the Justice Department.
Companies including FedEx have lined up to demand reimbursement for U.S. tariffs they paid but which the court ruled last week were imposed illegally, drawing sharp criticism from Donald Trump.
The Justice Department has not announced plans to ask the Supreme Court to review the case, despite Trump’s comments Friday. Claiming that refunds could ultimately cost hundreds of billions of dollars, the president wrote: “I’m sure the Supreme Court didn’t have that in mind!” »
“It makes no sense that countries and companies that have taken advantage of us for decades, receiving billions and billions of dollars that they should not have been allowed to receive, are now being treated to an undeserved ‘windfall,’ the likes of which the world has never seen before, as a result of this very disappointing decision to say the least,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Is a new hearing or a new judgment of this case possible??? »
Since the Supreme Court struck down numerous tariffs last week, dozens of companies have rushed to court to seek refunds, joining hundreds who had already filed lawsuits in anticipation of the ruling.
The move amounts to a harsh rebuke, reversing a key pillar of Trump’s aggressive economic agenda. It also infuriated the president, who blasted the court and vowed to impose new tariffs in a “much more forceful and abhorrent way” on countries that don’t comply with his wishes.
The Supreme Court ruled that a 1977 law designed to address national emergencies did not provide legal justification for most of the administration’s tariffs on countries around the world.
As Trump and his officials worked to identify legal mechanisms they could use to enforce his tariffs, earlier this week they imposed 10% U.S. tariffs on imports from much of the world, but they were temporary.
Under section 122 of the Commerce Act of 1974, this new duty can be imposed for 150 days.
