Administration begins $100B refund for tariffs the Supreme Court struck down

The Trump administration has begun returning one of the largest pools of tariff revenue in recent U.S. history. A filing in the U.S. Court of International Trade said the government had refunded about $100 billion through the end of July from duties imposed under President Donald Trump’s 2025 tariff program before the Supreme Court struck those levies down. The refunds cover tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, which the court said could not be used to impose tariffs. The government has said roughly $166 billion was collected under that authority, leaving tens of billions still to be processed. ### Where did the $100 billion number come from? A Tuesday court filing from U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave the figure. CNBC and ABC News, citing that filing, reported that about $100 billion had been refunded by the end of July and that the total represented a little more than half of the amount the government says it owes importers. Reuters also reported the figure from the same filing. (cnbc.com) The same reporting said Customs had accepted a larger amount into the refund pipeline. Al Jazeera, citing the filing, reported that $128.68 billion had been designated as potential and certified refunds, with more than three-quarters of that amount already returned. ### Why is the government refunding the money at all? (cnbc.com) The Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026, that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. Congressional Research Service and legal analyses of the ruling said the decision covered the “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs first imposed in April 2025 and other tariff actions tied to IEEPA. (aljazeera.com) That meant the government had to unwind collections made under a legal theory the court rejected. The Court of International Trade has been supervising parts of that process through status filings from Customs official Brandon Lord, according to court documents surfaced by law firms and trade groups that posted the declarations. (congress.gov) ### Who is getting the money back? Large importers have already disclosed or been estimated to have received sizable refunds. CNN reported that Apple received an estimated $2.2 billion, Amazon about $600 million and Nike about $300 million. Those figures reflect the scale of tariff payments made by major importers before the court ruling. (dwt.com) The refunds are going to the companies that paid the duties at the border, not directly to households. Reuters, ABC News and CNN all reported that the repayment process is centered on importers that remitted the tariffs to the government. ### Why are consumers not seeing checks? Tariffs are collected from importers, and the refund mechanism follows that payment trail. (finance.yahoo.com) CNN reported that consumers who paid higher prices as tariffs moved through the economy are not receiving direct repayments under the current process. That gap has become part of the public debate around the refunds. (usnews.com) Some companies had passed at least part of the tariff cost through to prices, while the legal repayment is being made to the firms that originally paid Customs. ### Is the tariff fight over now? The administration is still trying to rebuild parts of the tariff regime through other statutes. (finance.yahoo.com) CNBC reported that new Trump tariff actions relying on different legal authorities are already facing fresh court challenges. Fortune also reported that the volatility of the tariff regime has complicated sourcing decisions and, in some cases, pushed companies back toward Chinese suppliers because of concerns about predictability. The next phase will play out in court and in agency filings. Importers are still waiting on the remaining share of the roughly $166 billion, and the Court of International Trade is continuing to receive updates as Customs processes additional claims. (cnbc.com)