A US court is ordering the government to repay billions of dollars in illegally collected tariffs

This is the amount of taxes that the US Supreme Court ruled last month were collected illegally.

On March 4, a judge on the U.S. International Trade Court ordered the government to begin repaying billions of dollars in tariffs to importers, with interest. These are the tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month were illegal.

According to court records, Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. International Trade Court in Manhattan ordered the U.S. government to complete the determination of import costs for millions of shipments into the U.S. without imposing tariffs deemed illegal. After completing this process, authorities must reimburse businesses.

Based on current procedures, when goods enter the U.S., importers pay an estimated tax upfront. Approximately 314 days later, customs authorities "settle" the accounts to determine the exact tax liability. Judge Eaton ordered the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to complete the settlement for these shipments without including the tax deemed unlawful, thereby creating a basis for refunds to businesses.

Speaking at the hearing, Judge Eaton affirmed that U.S. Customs has the capability to program its system to automatically issue tax refunds.

He also scheduled a hearing for March 6 to provide an update on the progress of CBP's refund plan, and stated that the court's chief judge had appointed him as the sole judge in charge of cases related to tariff refunds.

CBP had previously filed with the court that this tax-free settlement task was "unprecedented" in scale, requiring manual review of more than 70 million declarations. The agency had requested an additional four months to consider payment options.

According to estimates, the US government collected more than $130 billion in tariffs deemed illegal – revenues that were central to President Donald Trump's trade policy during his second term. However, when it issued its ruling in late February 2026, the Supreme Court did not provide specific guidance on the reimbursement mechanism, leaving businesses confused about how to receive rebates.
Judge Eaton's ruling comes in a case initiated by Atmus Filtration, a company that claims to have paid approximately $11 million in taxes deemed unlawful. Atmus's case is one of about 2,000 lawsuits being filed with the International Trade Court seeking tax refunds under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Judge Eaton stated that he did not want to hear each case individually but rather wanted to establish a common method by which the more than 300,000 importers involved could file claims and receive refunds. The majority of these businesses are small, and they expect U.S. Customs to implement a simple, low-cost refund system instead of forcing them to pursue complex administrative procedures or litigation.

Source: VTV