The Trump administration has refunded roughly $100 billion to importers after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's sweeping 2025 "liberation day" tariffs, marking one of the largest tariff repayment efforts in U.S. history.
The figure, disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Court of International Trade, represents about 60% of the approximately $166 billion collected under tariffs imposed through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. The refunds follow a series of court rulings that found the law did not authorize the president to levy the broad import duties.
The tariffs, introduced in 2025, became a cornerstone of Trump's economic agenda, targeting a wide range of imported goods under emergency powers typically reserved for national security threats. However, the Supreme Court ruled in late February that IEEPA did not provide legal authority for the administration's expansive tariff program, effectively invalidating the duties.
The decision prompted federal Judge Richard Eaton to order that all tariffs collected under IEEPA be returned to the businesses that paid them. The administration has since launched a massive effort to reimburse importers.
According to the court filing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has processed approximately $100 billion in certified refunds and sent the payments to the Treasury Department for distribution.
To manage the repayment process, Customs created the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, known as CAPE, in late April. The system tracks claims and verifies refund eligibility for importers that paid the now-invalid tariffs.
As of July 31, CAPE had received 252,496 tariff refund declarations covering more than 25 million import entries, according to Brandon Lord, a CBP official whose filing updated the court on the government's progress.
Lord said the agency has accepted nearly $129 billion in potential and certified refunds for processing. Of that amount, roughly $100 billion has completed verification and has been forwarded to the Treasury for payment.
Despite the scale of the repayments already completed, the administration still faces a significant backlog. Government figures show that more than 330,000 importers paid IEEPA tariffs on over 53 million import entries, meaning millions of transactions remain to be reviewed before all eligible businesses receive their money.
The refund process is unfolding as the Trump administration continues to defend its broader tariff strategy and seeks alternative legal pathways to maintain similar import duties.
Trump has repeatedly argued that tariffs have generated substantial revenue for the federal government while encouraging companies to manufacture in the United States.
"Tariffs have been incredible. We've taken in hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said Tuesday during an interview with Fox News. "Supreme Court gave us a little shot, but we're allowed to do it in a different manner."
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the administration moved quickly to invoke other statutory authorities to impose new tariffs that officials argue rest on firmer legal ground. Those replacement tariffs, however, are already facing separate legal challenges that could once again test the scope of presidential trade powers.
Meanwhile, the refund effort itself has become the subject of additional litigation.
Tuesday's filing was submitted in a lawsuit brought by Freestyle World, a California-based importer seeking class-action status on behalf of smaller businesses that argue the CAPE system creates unnecessary hurdles for obtaining refunds.
The company contends many smaller importers lack the resources to navigate the administrative process efficiently and could face delays recovering money they paid under the invalidated tariff program.
The federal government disputes those claims, arguing that Freestyle World's request for class certification was filed too late and does not meet the legal requirements for certification.
