Trump Urges Companies to Forego Tariff Refunds

Trump Vows to Remember Companies That Refuse Refund on Duties

The US government's largest repayment in history may be on the horizon following the Supreme Court's ruling against President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose "reciprocal" tariffs on imports from nearly every country. The ruling set the stage for a complicated task that could total over $160 billion in refunds.

In response to a question about whether companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. should request refunds on duties deemed unlawful, President Trump stated that he would remember companies that decline to seek refunds. "It's brilliant if they don't do that," Trump said during an interview on CNBC on Tuesday. "If they don't do that, I'll remember them."

The Supreme Court's ruling in February has led to a web portal launch by US Customs and Border Protection for importers to file requests for refunds. Thousands of companies, including Costco Wholesale Corp. and FedEx Corp., have separately filed lawsuits in the Court of International Trade to preserve their right to a refund in case the Trump administration issues a challenge.

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United Parcel Service Inc. has stated that it will pass refunds to customers who paid tariffs via the courier, but only after the money is received from the government. "There is no need for those customers to contact UPS. After we receive the funds from CBP, we have established a process to issue refunds to the payors," the company said in a statement.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Trump immediately imposed a temporary 10% tariff that is set to expire in July. The administration is working to restore that revenue using other tariff authorities. "We're doing it a different way. We're going to end up with the same," Trump said in Tuesday's interview. "We'll end up with bigger numbers, actually, but it's a little more unwieldy."