SAEDNEWS: A group of 22 US Senate Democrats on Monday introduced legislation that would require US President Donald Trump's administration to fully refund within 180 days all of the revenue, with interest, collected from tariffs struck down by the US Supreme Court.
A new Democratic bill would require the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, which collects tariffs at U.S. ports, to prioritize small businesses.
The Supreme Court, in its Friday ruling striking down former President Donald Trump’s broad tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), did not issue guidance on refunds. Instead, it sent the case back to a lower trade court to determine next steps.
The proposed legislation would mandate that CBP refund all IEEPA-based tariffs unlawfully imposed by Trump, including interest, even if the duties had already been finalized, or “liquidated,” by CBP.
Twenty-two Senate Democrats co-sponsored the bill, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrats on the Senate’s Finance, Small Business, and Foreign Relations committees, respectively.
“Senate Democrats will continue fighting to rein in Donald Trump’s price-hiking trade and economic policies,” Wyden said in a statement. “A crucial first step is helping people who need it most, by putting money back into the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota declined to comment on whether the bill would be considered. Because it is newly introduced and must pass committee review, any decision on consideration is likely weeks away.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that the Republican-controlled House would avoid addressing the question of returning tariff revenue. “The White House is going to sort that out, and we have to give them the time and space to do it. This is an unprecedented event, of course, so there’s no playbook to follow,” Johnson said. “I think they’ve got good arguments on their side, and we’ll see how it shakes out. That’s not something that really involves the House at this point.”
The White House has not yet commented on the legislation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the administration would follow lower court determinations regarding refunds. “We will follow what they decide, but it can take weeks or months until we hear from them,” Bessent told CNN.
CBP is scheduled to halt collections of IEEPA tariffs at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT) Tuesday.
According to a Friday report from Reuters, the Supreme Court ruling could make more than $175 billion in IEEPA tariff collections eligible for refunds, based on estimates from the Penn-Wharton Budget Model. The model also indicated that IEEPA-based tariffs had been generating over $500 million per day in gross revenue.
