"But two courts have now ruled that his biggest and boldest import taxes are illegal. If the Supreme Court agrees and strikes them down for good, the federal government could have to pay back many of the taxes it's already collected from companies that import foreign products into the United States. "We're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars potentially in refunds affecting thousands and thousands of importers," said trade lawyer Luis Arandia, a partner with the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg."
"Ordinary Americans, who've had to pay higher prices on some products because of the tariffs, are unlikely to share in the windfall. Any refunds would go instead to the companies that paid the levies in the first place. The refunds would also reverse the flow of tariff revenue the president has counted on to help pay for the massive tax-cut bill he signed July 4 and would threaten, he warns, to "literally destroy the United States of America.'""
President Donald Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose broad tariffs on imports, claiming trillions in Treasury revenue and protection from unfair trade. One set targeted nearly every country after declaring trade deficits a national emergency; another aimed at Canada, China and Mexico to counter illegal drugs and immigration. Two courts have ruled those IEEPA-based tariffs illegal. If the Supreme Court upholds those rulings, the federal government could owe hundreds of billions of dollars in refunds to companies that paid the duties, not to consumers. Unwinding the collections would reverse revenue used to fund tax cuts and create a historic administrative burden.
Read at Fast Company
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