Supreme Court voids tariffs; U.S. to refund about $100 billion to importers

The Trump administration said on August 5 that it had refunded about $100 billion in tariff revenue collected before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a broad set of 2025 import duties. A filing in the U.S. Court of International Trade said the payments account for roughly 60% of the about $166 billion collected under tariffs President Donald Trump imposed using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Reuters and CNBC reported the court filing disclosed the refund total after the Supreme Court invalidated the earlier levies. ### Where did the $100 billion figure come from? A Tuesday court filing in the U.S. Court of International Trade said U.S. Customs and Border Protection had refunded about $100 billion tied to the voided tariffs. CNBC reported the filing said the government had taken in roughly $166 billion under the 2025 duties, putting the refunded share at about 60%. February 20, 2026, is the date several outlets tied to the Supreme Court ruling that struck down a large part of Trump’s tariff program under IEEPA. (usnews.com) Al Jazeera and other reports said the ruling forced the administration to unwind duties already collected from importers. ### Who is actually getting the money back? Importers are receiving the refunds because they were the parties that paid the duties at the border. (cnbc.com) Yahoo Finance reported Apple received an estimated $2.2 billion tariff refund last quarter, Amazon about $600 million and Nike about $300 million. Amazon said some shoppers would get money back in limited cases. (aljazeera.com) Yahoo Finance reported Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said on the company’s earnings call that the company absorbed most tariff costs itself and would automatically refund customers where they had directly paid higher prices. ### Why aren’t consumers getting broad refunds? (finance.yahoo.com) U.S. customs law routes refunds to the importer of record, not to households that may have paid higher retail prices later in the supply chain. Yahoo Finance framed that gap as the central reason consumers who absorbed tariff-related price increases are not seeing a broad federal repayment. (finance.yahoo.com) ABC News reported Apple said it would reinvest its refund into U.S. innovation and manufacturing, while Amazon described customer pass-through refunds as limited. Those statements underline that companies, not shoppers, control what happens to most of the returned money once Treasury pays it out. ### What legal fight is still moving through the courts? (finance.yahoo.com) Twenty-five Democratic-led states sued on August 3 to block Trump’s newest tariffs. CNBC reported the complaint, filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, challenges tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners and argues Trump exceeded his authority again. Politico and U.S. News reported the states said the targeted economies account for nearly all U.S. imports and that the new tariffs took effect after an earlier 10% global tariff expired. (abcnews.com) The states include New York and Oregon, according to those reports. ### What are economists and traders saying about the new tariffs? The Tax Foundation estimate cited by Benzinga said the 2026 tariffs would raise taxes by about $900 per U.S. household, reduce after-tax income across income groups and shrink long-run output. (cnbc.com) That estimate has been cited by critics arguing the new duties will again fall partly on U.S. buyers rather than foreign exporters. (politico.com) July trade flows also showed companies racing ahead of possible new levies. The source briefing cited South China Morning Post reporting that traders shipped more than 200,000 tonnes of copper into U.S. ports in July to get ahead of anticipated tariffs, a sign of stockpiling around policy uncertainty. August court proceedings in the U.S. (visaverge.com) Court of International Trade are now the next place to watch. The refund process is still underway, and the states’ lawsuit will test whether Trump’s replacement tariffs can survive after the Supreme Court’s February ruling. (cnbc.com)