“US refunds $100bn of Donald Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs”

What actually happened

US customs officials reported to the Court of International Trade that the Trump administration has repaid about $100bn of the $165bn collected under tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February. The Trump administration has refunded about $100bn from the tariffs it collected before the US supreme court ruled them illegal, with the $100bn figure representing 60% of the total $165bn collected from Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariffs, as reported by customs officials to the US court of international trade on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times. The same week, a coalition of 25 US states sued the administration over a new round of tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing the import taxes struck down in February, and asking the CIT to declare them unlawful and order refunds.

Key facts

• $100bn refunded so far, equal to 60% of the $165bn collected under the struck-down tariffs, per customs filings to the CIT reported by the FT.
• $65bn of the original $165bn remains unrefunded.
• New tariffs of 10% to 12.5% imposed last month on more than 80 countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act, replacing the expiring 10% global duty.
• Federal deficit hit $1.37tn in the first nine months of the fiscal year, up 2% year-on-year, despite the refund push and after narrowing the prior year on tariff income.
• A coalition of 25 states argues the new tariffs cover 99.4% of US imports and is asking courts to block and refund them too.

What to watch for

• Whether the remaining $65bn gets repaid on schedule or stalls, given a separate report found only importers of record can claim refunds through the CBP system, leaving many small businesses shut out.
• The outcome of the 25-state lawsuit against the Section 301 tariffs; if courts side with the states, the "refund" story could repeat within months.
• Whether the deficit's 2% rise despite tariff income undercuts Trump's framing of tariffs as a deficit-closing tool.