US court rejects Trump admin's attempt to slow tariff refund process

A federal court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's attempt to slow the process of refunding billions of dollars' worth of tariffs the Supreme Court struck down as illegal last month. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit started the next phase in the refund process by sending it to a lower court to sort out. In a court filing Friday, Trump's Justice Department had urged the Federal Circuit to proceed cautiously and hold off for 90 days. But the judges refused. The Supreme Court ruled Feb 20 that Trump's sweeping tariffs on most countries in the world were illegal, clearing the way for the importers who paid them to seek refunds. The government had collected more than USD 130 billion from the tariffs by mid-December, and could ultimately be on the hook for refunds worth USD 175 billion, according to calculations by the Penn Wharton Budget Model. But the Supreme Court offered no guidance on refunds; its decision did not even mention them. Now the US Court of ...