Supreme Court ruling against Trump tariffs brings calls for refunds, new round of levies

HOUSTON - As court watchers saw skepticism from Supreme Court justices when they heard arguments about the tariff question, there was little surprise when the high court invalidated the President's levies, saying they lacked clear congressional authorization. The decision prompted a quick question: What's next?

Trump tariff tug-of-war

Big picture view:

Thousands of companies have been demanding refunds for the estimated $130–$200 billion paid in tariffs, over the last year. Most of those cases have been put on hold, until now. 

There is an administrative process to make those claims, but trade experts warn the sheer volume will slow the process, while the President says they'll likely be tied up in court for years.

Tariff refunds: Who's getting them and when will they be issued?

Meantime, President Trump has long-hinted that he had other options to levy tariffs, if the court ruled against him. 

The White House announced that a 10% across-the-board tariff went into effect on Tuesday. The order uses Section 122 of the Trade Act, which allows for temporary tariffs while the government investigates how they might be made permanent under different sections of the Act.

Refunds?

What they're saying:

"We knew refunds can't be issued right away; there's going to be a process. And we knew there were going to be backup plans.  Section 122 (of the Trade Act) is the perfect backup plan to carry over into, perhaps, an investigation into one of the other provisions, and continuing tariffs," says trade attorney Michelle Schulz, of Schulz Trade Law, "This could drag out for a very long time. My experience in refunds (is that) it can take months, if not years to get your refund. There will be so many refund requests, I anticipate it's going to be a bit chaotic."