Overview
- Judge Richard Eaton ruled that all importers of record are entitled to refunds of IEEPA duties and said he will hear all cases concerning those refunds.
- Two days earlier, the Federal Circuit denied the administration’s bid to delay the mandate and returned the refund issue to the trade court.
- The government collected roughly $130–134 billion under the invalidated tariffs, with potential refund exposure estimated up to about $175 billion and interest costs reported near $700 million per month if repayments lag.
- Customs must build a mass-refund process after halting IEEPA duty collection on Feb. 24, and Eaton questioned ongoing paperwork calculations while ordering corrections to remove the unlawful charges.
- Importers have filed hundreds to over 1,000 lawsuits, including FedEx, Costco, Dyson and L’Oréal, as the administration eyes appeals and replacement tariffs under Section 122 (10% moving toward 15%) and senators push a Tariff Refund Act to require timely refunds with interest.