Supreme Court Tariff Ruling: Who Actually Gets a Refund?

Supreme Court Tariff Ruling: Who Actually Gets a Refund?

The refund portal is open — but for most businesses and consumers, the path to recovering tariff costs is far more complicated than it looks.

Overview

When the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s emergency tariffs, many businesses assumed a refund was on the way. The federal government has since opened an application portal to process an estimated $127 billion in refunds — but trade law experts warn that eligibility is narrow, the process is complex, and the money may not flow where people expect.

Refunds Underway

The ruling set off a wave of anticipation across the business community. Major retailers — Walmart, Target, Nike, Kohl’s, Costco, FedEx, and thousands of smaller importers — are among the more than 300,000 companies that brought goods into the United States under the now-invalidated tariffs. Walmart alone could be due as much as $10 billion in refunds, according to some Wall Street analysts.

The government’s online portal opened for applications, and while some users reported sluggish performance, it did not crash under the anticipated demand. Customs and Border Protection has indicated the review process will take 60 to 90 days.

However, the legal picture is more complicated for businesses further down the supply chain. Under current trade law, only registered importers and licensed customs brokers are eligible to file refund claims. If your business purchased goods from an importer but did not directly pay the tariffs yourself, you likely have no legal right to file — regardless of how much those tariff costs affected your bottom line.

Michelle Schulz, founder of Schulz Trade Law PLLC, underscores the risk for businesses that assumed a refund agreement was implied:

“If you were a customer of the importer, you don’t technically have a right to file a claim. And if you didn’t have an agreement with the importer that you get a refund when they get a refund, you may not have a right to that claim. It can be a legal mess.”

Even for eligible importers who do receive refunds, there is no obligation to pass those savings on to consumers or business customers. Some companies have signaled they would lower prices; others are reserving judgment until the money arrives. And separately, a number of other tariffs unrelated to the Supreme Court ruling remain in effect — meaning the broader trade landscape is still very much in flux.