Trump DOJ faces first big tariff refund court deadline on Friday

The Trump administration’s Justice Department is approaching its first major legal deadline after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are illegal.

The Justice Department has until Friday to weigh in on one of the first legal battles over refunds, in which plaintiffs are seeking expedited payment of tariff refunds through the Court of International Trade (CIT), which typically handles tariff cases.

Trade lawyers told CNBC that companies suing for tariff rebates at the CIT have filed more than 2,000 cases. In December, CIT postponed cases Until the Supreme Court announced its decision.

Following the Supreme Court decision, one of the plaintiffs, VOS, filed a lawsuit. movement Pending the Supreme Court decision, he requested that his case, which is in the federal appeals court, be transferred to the International Trade Court as soon as possible for a refund. The federal district court sent movement We request that the Ministry of Justice respond on or before February 27 to allow the case to be referred back to the CIT for decision. As of Thursday afternoon, no application had been filed by the Department of Justice. He did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Following the ruling, the Supreme Court gave the government court system 32 days to decide on next steps.

Although the case involves only one group of small businesses, it has legal implications for many cases, the plaintiffs said in their filing: “This Court’s prompt action in this case will facilitate the prompt payment of refunds to numerous other plaintiffs who have filed and will file IEEPA tariff challenges in this Court. … the refund process in this case can be used as a template for prompt resolution in other cases as well.”

Trade lawyers and customs experts told CNBC that nearly 300,000 shippers have paid the tariffs, and some estimates put potential refunds as high as $175 billion. Following the Supreme Court decision, more companies filed lawsuits, including one that FedEx filed last week after the Supreme Court decision.

The DOJ’s response to the court request may begin to reveal how the Trump administration plans to handle the refund process. President Trump said at a press conference last Friday that it could take years to litigate the tariff rebate issue. Democrats on Capitol Hill have been pressing the administration for a plan to roll back the tariffs since last Friday, arguing they have months to prepare for a negative decision. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on Fox News last Friday that “it could take years to file a lawsuit and get paid. If there is a payout, it looks like it would be the ultimate corporate welfare.”

In their motion, Plaintiffs state that they seek to request that the government issue administrative orders necessary to promptly effectuate the invalidation of the IEEPA tariffs, including administrative orders necessary to ensure that Plaintiffs expeditiously receive the refunds it has promised to provide, with interest.

The motion states that the plaintiffs do not expect the government to oppose the court, but “the Administration’s recent public statements suggest that injunctive relief from this Court will be necessary to ensure that the government promptly fulfills its payment commitments.”

Trade experts say the Court’s decision did not specifically weigh in on the tariff process, though the only one who said it could be a “mess” was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who said refunds should go to companies.

“It is clear that registered importers who pay illegal tariffs are entitled to the amounts they paid,” said Pratik A. Shah, lead attorney in the Learning Resources Supreme Court Litigation and chair of the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Supreme Court practice. “There is no doubt that people who paid IEEPA rates should receive refunds. The only question is how to issue refunds.”