Trump signals fight over $170–$175 billion in tariff refunds, says “it has to get litigated”

President Donald Trump signaled his administration would not concede the question of refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated his emergency-powers tariffs, saying of the fallout, “I guess it has to get litigated,” and suggesting the dispute could stretch for years. The court’s 6-3 decision held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize the president to impose sweeping import duties, but the majority left the fate of more than $170 billion in collected tariffs to lower courts.

The refund question now rests with the New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade. Trade attorneys say upwards of 2,000 cases have been or will be lodged there, and more than 100 companies filed new lawsuits in the days after the decision. The CIT had put a stay on the bulk of refund litigation in December while the Supreme Court weighed the issue, and plaintiffs have moved to lift procedural obstacles and press for expedited relief.

In motions filed at the Court of International Trade plaintiffs ask the court to require the government to issue administrative orders to “promptly effectuate the invalidation of the IEEPA tariffs - including any administrative orders necessary to ensure that Plaintiffs swiftly receive the refunds, with interest, that the government has committed to provide.” The filings add that plaintiffs “do not expect the government to oppose the court,” but warn that recent public statements from the Administration mean “injunctive relief from this Court will be necessary to ensure the government promptly adheres to its commitments to pay.”

Those commitments are central to the dispute. Justice Department lawyers told courts before the Supreme Court that the government would refund import fees if ordered, and that promise was part of why courts kept the tariffs in place while litigation proceeded. But in a January filing the government added language that it “reserve[s] [its] right to challenge specific complaints” seeking refunds and said it would issue refunds only after a “final and unappealable decision” ordered payment. Legal experts say that reservation could be used to slow payments or force further appeals.

The administration’s public posture has hardened since the ruling. A White House ally identified only as Bessent told CNN that he was “not going to get out ahead of the courts” and that the matter could take “weeks or months” to sort out. Observers say that posture, paired with the DOJ reservation, sets up a test of how binding earlier government assurances will be in practice.

Trade lawyers generally predict companies will prevail on refund claims. Kelsey Christensen, a trade attorney, said via email that “IEEPA refunds should become available to all importers who paid tariffs directly to the U.S. government” and added that because the Supreme Court found no legal support for the collection of IEEPA tariffs, the collections lack a statutory basis.

Operationally, however, the scale of the task is unprecedented. Sources estimate potential refunds at more than $170 billion with some counts pegged as high as $175 billion. The trade court has overseen mass repayment programs before, but lawyers warn about complex downstream disputes between importers, retailers and other commercial parties over who ultimately retains any recovery. The Justice Department is due to respond in at least one of the early cases this week, a step that could indicate how aggressively the administration will contest immediate refunds.