Trump refunds $100B as states sue

President Donald Trump's administration said on August 5 it had refunded about $100 billion collected under the 2025 "Liberation Day" tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled those duties unlawful in February. A filing in the U.S. Court of International Trade said the refunds, including interest, had been completed through customs systems and sent to the Treasury Department for disbursement. The amount represents more than half of the roughly $166 billion the government collected before the high court said the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not let the president impose those tariffs. At the same time, a coalition of 25 Democratic-led states is asking the same trade court to block a new round of Trump tariffs imposed under a different law. ### Where did the $100 billion figure come from? Tuesday's court filing said "refunds (duties plus interest) of approximately $100 billion" had been completed and sent to the Treasury for payment, according to Reuters' account of the filing. The disclosure came from U.S. customs officials in the Court of International Trade and reflected the status as of the end of July. (usnews.com) The same filing put the original haul from the struck-down tariffs at about $166 billion. That means the administration has returned a little over 60% of the money tied to the duties the Supreme Court invalidated. ### Why did the Supreme Court strike down the earlier tariffs? (usnews.com) The Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026, that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, according to the court's opinion in *Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump*. The case covered both the broad "reciprocal" tariffs tied to trade deficits and separate drug-trafficking tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China. (usnews.com) The opinion said Trump had declared national emergencies tied to drug trafficking and trade deficits and then used IEEPA to impose duties, including a baseline tariff of at least 10% on imports from all trading partners, with higher rates for dozens of countries. Lower courts had already found that IEEPA did not grant that tariff power before the Supreme Court affirmed that reading. (supremecourt.gov) ### What is the new lawsuit by 25 states challenging? A coalition of 25 Democratic-led states sued on August 3 in the U.S. Court of International Trade over a new tariff program imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. CNBC reported the complaint challenges tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on most goods from 60 trading partners. (supremecourt.gov) New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement, "After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs." The states are asking the court to halt the tariffs, declare them unlawful and order refunds of duties they have paid. (cnbc.com) ### What is the administration's legal defense for the new duties? The White House said the new tariffs rest on a different statutory basis. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said, "The United States is using its lawful authority to obtain the elimination of unreasonable acts, policies and practices that burden U.S. commerce." (cnbc.com) Desai also said that foreign countries' failure to prohibit imports made with forced labor is an unreasonable practice that harms U.S. commerce and American workers. He added that Section 301 tariffs had been a "legally durable tool" since Trump's first term. ### Why do the states say the new plan is still unlawful? The states' complaint says the administration used forced-labor concerns as a pretext to recreate the same kind of global tariff regime courts had already rejected. (cnbc.com) According to CNBC's account of the filing, the states say U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer rushed investigations into 60 economies, skipped required country-specific consultations and failed to justify nearly uniform tariff rates across very different countries. The complaint says, "There is no rational fit between the purported problem of forced labor in international supply chains and the blanket global tariffs the USTR imposed." That argument goes to whether the administration can use Section 301 for a broad, near-uniform tariff structure after losing the IEEPA case. ### What happens next? (cnbc.com) The Court of International Trade is now handling both the refund process tied to the February ruling and the new state challenge to the Section 301 tariffs. The states' case seeks an order stopping the tariffs and requiring refunds, while customs officials are still processing the remaining payments from the earlier program. (cnbc.com) As of August 5, the administration had returned about $100 billion of the roughly $166 billion collected under the invalidated tariffs, and the next major milestone will be court action on the states' request to block the new duties. (usnews.com)