Supreme Court ruling forces Trump administration to refund roughly $100 billion in tariffs

President Donald Trump’s administration said this week it has refunded about $100 billion in tariff revenue collected before the Supreme Court struck down a large share of his 2025 trade duties. The figure was disclosed in a filing in the U.S. Court of International Trade and covers duties plus interest that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has certified and sent to the Treasury Department for payment. The refunds follow the Supreme Court’s February 20 ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, did not authorize Trump’s sweeping tariff program. The payments unwind a policy that had raised about $166 billion from importers before the court intervened. ### Where did the $100 billion figure come from? Brandon Lord, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official, said in a court declaration that refunds totaling about $100 billion had been completed through the agency’s processing system and sent on for Treasury disbursement. In the same filing, Lord said approximately $128.68 billion in potential and certified refunds had been accepted for processing as of 3 p.m. Eastern time on July 31. (usnews.com) CNBC reported that the $100 billion already refunded amounts to about 60% of the roughly $166 billion collected under Trump’s so-called “liberation day” tariffs. Reuters and other outlets, citing the filing, reported the disclosure on August 5. ### What exactly did the Supreme Court strike down? The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20, 2026, that IEEPA does not give the president authority to impose tariffs. (finance.yahoo.com) The decision invalidated tariffs Trump had imposed in 2025 under emergency powers, including the broad reciprocal duties announced on “liberation day.” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, according to Reuters and a Congressional Research Service summary. (cnbc.com) Legal analyses published after the ruling said the decision opened the way for importers to seek refunds on duties that had been collected unlawfully. A Holland & Knight client alert said the Court of International Trade later ordered Customs on March 4 to liquidate or reliquidate covered entries without the IEEPA tariffs, providing the operational path for refunds. (usnews.com) ### Which companies have said they got the money back? Apple received an estimated $2.2 billion in tariff refunds last quarter, Yahoo Finance reported on August 5. The same report said Amazon received about $600 million and Nike about $300 million. ABC News reported that companies ranging from Amazon to smaller importers have said the payments have started landing in their accounts. (hklaw.com) Yahoo Finance said the refund structure favored the companies that directly paid the duties at the border, not households that later absorbed higher prices through retail markups. (finance.yahoo.com) ### Why didn’t consumers get direct refunds too? U.S. customs law ties refunds to the importer of record, the party that paid the tariff to the government when goods entered the country. Because consumers generally paid higher prices later in the supply chain rather than remitting tariffs directly, they were not the parties receiving Treasury checks. That framework is described in reporting on the refund process and in legal summaries following the ruling. (abcnews.com) The New York Times said the administration was already facing weak public marks on the economy as tariffs added to inflation pressure. Yahoo Finance separately reported that households bore the higher prices while corporate importers were positioned to collect the refunds. ### Is the tariff fight over now? Trump moved within hours of the February 20 ruling to pursue other tariff authorities, including Section 122 and planned Section 301 investigations, according to trade-law summaries published after the decision. (finance.yahoo.com) Those replacement measures are already facing new legal challenges, including suits described in later coverage of the administration’s tariff strategy. (nytimes.com) The next milestones are likely to come from the U.S. Court of International Trade and further Customs filings showing how much of the remaining refund pool has been certified and paid. Treasury is still disbursing approved claims, and the balance between the roughly $128.68 billion accepted for processing and the $100 billion already refunded shows the unwind is not finished. (finance.yahoo.com) (hklaw.com)