US to pay interest if ordered to refund importers over tariffs

[WASHINGTON] The Trump administration confirmed in a new court filing that it will pay interest on refunds that it ultimately must make after the US Supreme Court struck down the president’s contested global tariffs.

US officials have not yet committed to returning all of the billions of US dollars in duties that importers already paid or how a refund process should work after the justices announced their ruling last month.

The interest question has not been central to the legal wrangling, but underscores the massive financial stakes.

The administration could owe an additional US$700 million in interest for each month that passes, according to a report released earlier this week by the Cato Institute. The government collected approximately US$170 billion in tariffs at issue in the court fight, according to a Bloomberg analysis.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court found that US President Donald Trump unlawfully used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or Ieepa, to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on goods entering the country.

A senior trade official told a judge in a written declaration on Wednesday (Mar 4) that “any validated refund of Ieepa duties would include interest”. BLOOMBERG