Trade court orders tariff refunds in setback for Trump
Mar 5th 2026
A federal judge ordered Customs and Border Protection to refund tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after the Supreme Court invalidated those levies, opening the door to repayments for thousands of importers while replacement tariff policy remains uncertain.
- US Court of International Trade directed Customs and Border Protection to issue refunds for tariffs imposed under IEEPA after the Supreme Court struck them down.
- Judge Richard Eaton ruled that all importers of record whose entries were subject to IEEPA duties are entitled to refunds and will be the sole judge to hear related refund claims.
- The decision arose from a suit by Atmus Filtration but could affect thousands of businesses and follows refund suits from companies including FedEx.
- The payment process and timeline for refunds remain unclear, and business groups are pressing for a fast, automatic refund system.
- The administration collected about $130 billion from the IEEPA tariffs and says it will likely replace them with a new global tariff, reportedly set at 15 percent