Trump administration tells court tariff refunds ‘will take time’

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

Attorneys for the federal government said refunding tariffs to the U.S. businesses that paid them could take time and urged a court not to rush, a move opponents said would cost taxpayers even more.

A group of small businesses, represented by the Liberty Justice Center, had asked a federal appeals court for quick action on refunds after the Supreme Court voided President Donald Trump’s tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The high court said Congress alone has the power to issue tariffs under the law.

Attorneys for the federal government urged the court to move deliberately.

“Plaintiffs claim speed is of the essence because they suffer harm from being ‘forced to operate’ without refunds in the interim,” attorneys for Brett Shumate, the assistant attorney general, wrote in response. “But a compensable monetary loss is a classic harm that can be remedied by payment of money with appropriate interest, and a plaintiff’s bare desire to be paid immediately is not a basis to demand this Court comply with his every whim.”

The government, instead, asked for a 90-day delay “to allow the political branches an opportunity to consider options.”

Rather, the federal attorneys indicated that the “coming process will take time,” citing another case in which much less money was involved, and refunds took seven years.

Shumate’s team noted that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs “have been replaced by vigorous new tariffs.” Trump’s most recent global tariffs are more limited in scope and only remain in place for 150 days without action from Congress.

“Complexity in the future counsels appropriately careful process, not breakneck speed,” the federal attorneys wrote.

Cato Institute scholars Scott Lincicome, Nathan Miller and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon said the delays could cost taxpayers billions in interest.

“These delays would leave American taxpayers on the hook for billions in interest that the government would owe importers on top of the tariff refunds,” they wrote.

The group estimated that each month of delay will add $700 million in interest costs for U.S. taxpayers, “or around $23 million per day.”

A slew of business groups asked the Trump administration to move swiftly with the refund process after the Supreme Court ruled the tariffs were invalid.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model projected that reversing the tariffs would generate up to $175 billion in refunds.