WASHINGTON \u2014 A federal court on Monday rejected the Trump administration\u2019s attempt to slow the process of refunding billions of dollars\u2019 worth of tariffs the Supreme Court struck down as illegal last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a court filing Friday, President Donald Trump\u2019s Justice Department had urged the Federal Circuit to proceed cautiously and hold off for 90 days. But the judges refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court ruled Feb. 20 that Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs on most countries in the world were illegal, clearing the way for the importers who paid them to seek refunds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI 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),\u201d said trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI expect the court to take an aggressive posture, asking the government to justify how they intend to comply with the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Siddartha Rao, a partner at law firm Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, said he has been getting a lot of calls from clients with questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are somewhat in uncharted territory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration has been reaching for new tariffs to replace the ones the Supreme Court struck down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One question, he said, is how the government might actually pay for these refunds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEveryone is sort of cognizant of the fact that it\u2019s not like there\u2019s over a hundred billion dollars sitting in, you know, in a room somewhere to just cut checks,\u201d Rao said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, you know, this is a Treasury problem, and it may very well be that the administration is reimposing tariffs for the reasons that it\u2019s cited … it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n