The $166 billion tariff refund question: Who actually gets paid back?

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency official is set to testify in federal court Tuesday about the U.S. government’s plans for refunding billions of dollars that importers paid before the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump illegally imposed certain tariffs on goods from most other countries. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton said he wanted to hear details that would help him decide whether to order the government to speed up and expand its system for issuing tariff refunds. The Justice Department subsequently appealed an earlier order by Eaton to make all businesses that paid the now-defunct import taxes eligible for refunds plus interest. The Justice Department argued in a court document that only companies that were parties in any of the more than 2.500 lawsuits that challenged the tariffs were legally entitled to seek refunds. With the dispute now in the hands of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Tuesday’s hearing in New York may provide more clarity about the next phase of the refund process. First phase of tariff refunds is still ongoing Eaton ordered Customs and Border Protection in March to create a system by which “all importers of record” could apply for their share of the $166 billion CBP estimated it had collected before the Supreme Court struck down the global tariffs. The agency launched the online system April 20, saying it would first review applications from importers whose tax bills had not been finalized. Claims for refunds totaling $89.6 billion had been accepted for processing as of June 1, according to CBP, and the agency reported last month that it had so far directed the Treasury Department to issue $20.6 billion in refunds. The pace and scope of the process became a contentious matter, however, when Eaton directed CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to appear in court to discuss the agency’s timeline for complying with the judge’s “universal” order. The Justice Department o