More than two months after the US Supreme Court ruled Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs illegal, the refund process is finally taking shape. The first repayments are expected to begin around May 11, according to a court order filed Tuesday in the US Court of International Trade, and the scale of what needs to be returned is staggering.

Judge Richard Eaton, who is overseeing the process, said roughly 21% of import entries subject to the tariffs have been accepted for duty removal through a new system called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE. Of those, about 3% have already been liquidated and are now in the active refund phase, which includes payments by the US Treasury. As of April 26, approximately 1.74 million accepted entries had been liquidated and were moving through the repayment process.

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The full scope of the exercise is extraordinary. Court documents indicate the refund operation may cover around $166 billion in duties collected from more than 330,000 importers across roughly 53 million entries.

What the Supreme Court ruled and how Trump responded

The February 20 ruling struck down the tariffs 6-3, with the court holding that Trump had exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law traditionally used for sanctions and asset freezes rather than broad-based import taxes. The Constitution grants Congress the power to levy tariffs, and the court found the statute did not explicitly authorise their use for that purpose.

The ruling followed legal challenges from businesses and 12 US states, including cases involving small importers and a family-owned toy company. 

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Trump called the decision "terrible" and "totally defective." Within days, he responded by imposing a fresh 10% global tariff through a different mechanism, signalling his intent to maintain trade pressure through whatever legal routes remain available. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated the administration may pursue alternative legal frameworks for future tariff measures.

How the tariffs reshaped global trade

The tariffs had been central to Trump's economic strategy since his second term began. On April 2, dubbed "Liberation Day," the administration announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on imports from most US trading partners using IEEPA, arguing that persistent trade deficits threatened national security and economic stability.

The same emergency law was invoked earlier in 2025 to impose tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, citing the trafficking of fentanyl as a national emergency.

Published on: Apr 30, 2026 8:06 AM IST