U.S. refunds $100B in tariffs

The Trump administration told the U.S. Court of International Trade on August 5 that it had refunded about $100 billion of tariff revenue collected under President Donald Trump’s 2025 “liberation day” duties. The filing said the refunds cover about 60% of the roughly $166 billion the government collected before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those tariffs. The duties had been imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, according to CNBC and Reuters. At the same time, a coalition of 25 Democratic-led states is trying to block a new round of tariffs that they say unlawfully recreates the policy the courts already rejected. ### Where did the $100 billion figure come from? The $100 billion figure came from a court filing by U.S. customs officials in the Court of International Trade, filed Tuesday and reported on August 5. Reuters said the filing showed the administration had already returned about $100 billion from the duties invalidated by the Supreme Court, while CNBC reported that amount represented about 60% of all revenue collected under the program. (cnbc.com) The underlying tariff program had raised about $165 billion to $166 billion from importers, according to reports cited by CNBC, Reuters and other outlets. Those tariffs were part of Trump’s 2025 trade package and were later struck down by the Supreme Court after legal challenges over the president’s authority to impose them under emergency-powers law. (usnews.com) ### Who is getting the money back? Apple received an estimated $2.2 billion in tariff refunds last quarter, Yahoo Finance reported on August 6. The same report estimated Amazon received about $600 million and Nike about $300 million. Yahoo Finance said those figures reflected the scale of refunds flowing back to large importers that had paid the duties at the border. (cnbc.com) American consumers are not receiving comparable direct repayments, according to Yahoo Finance’s reporting. The article said the tariff costs had already filtered through prices, while the refund process returned money to the companies that originally paid customs duties. ### Why were the original tariffs thrown out? (finance.yahoo.com) The Supreme Court had already struck down the “liberation day” tariffs before the latest refund filing, according to Reuters and CNBC. The core legal issue was the administration’s use of IEEPA, a statute that the challengers argued did not authorize such broad import taxes. (finance.yahoo.com) The refund process now shows how much money was collected before the ruling took full effect. Reuters reported that the administration is repaying tariffs it gathered before the Court invalidated the duties, and the August 5 filing gave the clearest public accounting so far of how much has already gone back out. (usnews.com) ### Why are states suing again if refunds are already underway? Twenty-five Democratic-led states sued on August 3 in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York over a new set of tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners. Reuters reported the states argued Trump had again exceeded his legal authority, while CNBC said the lawsuit targeted duties of 10% or 12.5% imposed on dozens of countries. (usnews.com) New York Attorney General Letitia James is among the officials leading that challenge, according to Fox Business. The states argue the new tariffs amount to an “illegal end run” around the Supreme Court’s earlier decision, with the measures covering major trading partners including the European Union and dozens of individual countries. (usnews.com) ### What happens next in the tariff fight? The Court of International Trade is now the central venue for both the refund accounting and the challenge to the replacement tariffs. Reuters said the states’ case was filed in that court in New York, and the August 5 customs filing there documented the scale of repayments already made. (foxbusiness.com) Further court filings from U.S. customs officials and briefs from the 25 states are likely to provide the next public updates. The key named participants in the next phase are the Trump administration, the coalition of states led by Democratic attorneys general, and the judges of the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York. (cnbc.com) (usnews.com)