Judge clears path for refunds on Trump's tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled unlawful
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- A Supreme Court ruling recently struck down President Donald Trump's IEEPA tariffs.
- A federal judge on Wednesday said companies are entitled to benefit from that ruling.
- US Customs must recalculate duties on imports, disregarding Trump's IEEPA tariffs, per court order.
A federal trade judge on Wednesday cleared the path for refunds on President Donald Trump's tariffs, applied through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, after the Supreme Court recently struck them down.
In the ruling, Judge Richard K. Eaton of the US Court of International Trade said that US importers who were subject to those tariffs are "entitled to the benefit" of the Supreme Court ruling.
Eaton also ordered the US Customs and Border Protection — the agency responsible for collecting import duties — to "liquidate" import entries without regard to the tariffs Trump imposed through the IEEPA, a national emergency law that gives a president broad authority to regulate economic transactions.
The judge is essentially ordering the government agency to calculate the final bill for certain shipments entering the US as if the IEEPA tariffs never applied. Any accounting on goods that have already been calculated, or "liquidated," but are not legally final, needs to be redone without the duties, the judge ordered.
Importers generally have 180 days after goods are liquidated before the accounting is legally finalized.
The move is another blow to the Trump administration, which sought to raise government revenue through taxes on imports. Trump applied double-digit tariffs through an executive order on nearly every country in April 2025, calling it "Liberation Day."
On February 20, the Supreme Court struck down, in a 6-3 ruling, Trump's IEEPA duties, stating that the national emergency law does not give the president the ability to unilaterally impose tariffs. The ruling made no explicit mention of refunds.
In the Wednesday order, Eaton indicated he will serve as the sole judge overseeing cases involving refunds of IEEPA duties.
The exact dollar figure for refunds remains unclear. The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates that the tariff reversals could generate up to $175 billion in refunds.
Spokespeople for the White House and CBP did not immediately return a request for comment.