How to solve the tariff refund mess

On Feb. 20, the Supreme Court held in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the tariffs imposed by the administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 were unlawful. What the court did not do is explain what the remedy should be, whether those who paid the tariffs should get their money back and, if so, how the refund process would work. On March 27, the U.S. Court of International Trade ordered Customs and Border Protection to refund the IEEPA tariffs.

CBP estimates that over 330,000 importers have made a total of over 53 million entries in which they have deposited or paid IEEPA tariffs and that the total amount of IEEPA tariffs paid is approximately $166 billion.