Trump Administration Plans Appeal of Tariff Refund Order

The Trump administration said Friday that it plans to appeal a federal judge's order allowing all companies that paid the tariffs to seek refunds. The move could affect a refund process that had begun after the Supreme Court ruled the tariffs lacked constitutional authority.

The Supreme Court ruled that President Trump lacked the constitutional authority to impose higher import taxes on goods from nearly every other country. American businesses had started receiving refunds after the ruling. Until the Department of Justice informed the judge of its planned appeal, the refund system overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection had been working fairly smoothly.

Refunds reached the bank accounts of the first successful applicants on May 12.

Applications for refunds totaling $85 billion were accepted for processing as of May 22, according to CBP. The agency said it had directed the Treasury Department to issue $20.6 billion in refunds so far. The administration objected to a demand by the judge for the CBP commissioner to appear in the U.S. Court of International Trade to answer questions about repayment timelines.

Justice Department lawyers asked the judge to allow one or two deputies to appear instead. They also argued that the judge exceeded his authority when he determined that the Supreme Court's ruling entitled all importers of record to refunds. The lawyers wrote that the government intends to appeal the universal injunction while continuing to process refunds for businesses that filed complaints.

Some national retail chains said they planned to use their tariff refunds to lower customer prices on some items. Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told analysts last week that the company would implement price cuts even though the maximum refund it might be eligible for represented less than half of 1% of Walmart's $483 billion in annual U.S. sales.

Some smaller companies told the Associated Press that the partial refunds they have received so far would go toward paying remaining or future tariffs, reducing debt or keeping operations running. Jay Foreman, chief executive of toy company Basic Fun, said he received about $450,000, or 7% of his total claim, over two consecutive days this month.

“I took the initial repayment as a positive sign but that the process seemed like a total slow roll after receiving less than $10,000 since then.”

Foreman said it is time to release the funds back into the economy to support businesses and fund operations.