Judge orders U.S. to clear 19 million shipments held up by illegal tariffs

Judge orders government to refund importers

A federal trade court judge told the government to start refunding billions of dollars in tariffs the Supreme Court struck down last month.

On March 4, Judge Richard K. Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade ordered Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to process millions of import entries without charging the illegal tariffs.

But here’s the catch: those refunds go to businesses, not to you. Everyday consumers should not expect direct checks or quick price drops.

Supreme Court struck down presidential tariffs

The ruling goes back to Feb. 20, when the Supreme Court decided 6-3 that the president cannot use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, finding that the power to tax imports belongs to Congress under the Constitution. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson joined him.

The decision wiped out tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, and other countries that had been tied to drug trafficking and broader trade disputes.

One company’s lawsuit opened the door

The order came out of Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States.

Atmus, a Tennessee-based filtration company, paid about $11 million in the now-illegal tariffs and sued to get its money back.

Judge Eaton ruled that every importer who paid IEEPA tariffs deserves to benefit from the Supreme Court’s decision, not just Atmus.

He ordered refunds with interest and said entries still within the protest window must be recalculated without the struck-down tariffs.

CBP faces a massive paperwork problem

CBP called the job ahead of it unprecedented. In court filings, the agency said it might need to manually review more than 70 million entries.

From February 2025 to February 2026, about 71.6 million entries came through customs. As of Dec. 10, 2025, roughly 19.2 million of the 34 million tariff-affected entries had not yet been finalized.

CBP asked for up to four months just to figure out how to start paying people back.

Judge told CBP to use its computers

Judge Eaton was not buying the delays. When a Justice Department lawyer said mass refunds would take time and need manual review, Eaton pushed back.

He said CBP should be able to program its systems to issue refunds without hand-checking each one. After all, CBP processes refunds every day through normal operations.

Eaton scheduled a follow-up conference for March 6 and told government lawyers to come with a plan for refunding importers without forcing each one to sue.

Billions sit in government accounts

The federal government collected more than $130 billion in IEEPA tariff revenue.

Some estimates put the total even higher, with one budget model from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School pegging it at up to $175 billion.

A report from the Cato Institute found the Treasury is racking up roughly $700 million a month in interest on that money, meaning delays cost taxpayers more.

More than 300,000 importers paid the tariffs, and about 2,000 lawsuits had already landed at the trade court before this order.

Small businesses struggle to get refunds

Most of the 300,000-plus importers who paid tariffs are smaller businesses, and many told reporters they might just give up on refunds if the process means hiring lawyers or navigating a complicated customs system.

Even Atmus, a mid-sized company, had to go to court to recover its $11 million.

Senate Democrats introduced the Tariff Refund Act, which would make CBP issue refunds automatically and direct the agency to work with the Small Business Administration to help smaller importers through the process.

Refunds go to businesses, not shoppers

Here’s what this means for your wallet: not much, at least not right away.

The tariffs added roughly $1,000 to $1,300 per household per year in higher prices on things like electronics, clothing, appliances, and auto parts.

Some companies may lower prices after getting refunds, but economists say businesses rarely cut prices as fast as they raise them.

Some Democratic governors have pushed for direct refund checks to Americans, but no program like that has been approved.

Trump imposed replacement tariffs within hours

The tariffs did not just vanish after the Supreme Court ruling.

Hours after the decision, President Trump signed an order imposing a new 10% tariff on all imports under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The next day, he said he would raise it to 15%, the maximum that law allows. These replacement tariffs took effect on Feb. 24 and expire after 150 days, around July 24, unless Congress votes to extend them.

Separate tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, copper, and lumber under other laws also remain in place.

Administration plans to fight the order

The Trump administration has signaled it will challenge the scope of Eaton’s order. Legal experts expect an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

One big question: can a single judge’s order apply to every importer in the country, or only to the company that filed the lawsuit?

The Supreme Court recently ruled in a separate case, Trump v. CASA, Inc., that federal courts generally cannot issue orders covering everyone.

Eaton argued the trade court is different because Congress gave it special nationwide authority over tariff disputes.

U.S. tariff rates remain historically high

The Supreme Court’s ruling marked the most significant check on presidential tariff power in decades.

It confirmed that Congress, not the president acting alone under emergency laws, holds the power to tax imports. But the overall U.S. tariff rate remains the highest since 1946, even after the IEEPA tariffs fell.

The administration has launched new trade investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which could lead to additional longer-term tariffs.

Congress may face a vote on extending the Section 122 tariffs before they expire in July, putting lawmakers on record ahead of the 2026 midterms.

What Americans should know right now

The court order is a major step toward getting billions in illegal tariffs refunded, but it is not the final word. Refunds go to businesses first, and any savings that reach consumers will take time.

Americans are still paying tariffs under replacement laws, so prices on imported goods have not dropped back to pre-tariff levels. The government is expected to appeal, which could delay refunds for months or years.

Small businesses that paid tariffs should talk to a trade attorney or customs broker about protecting their refund rights while deadlines remain open.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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• Democrats want the government to refund billions in illegal tariffs
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