As Traders Await Supreme Court Tariff Decision, ST&R Prepared to File Refund Cases

While ST&R continues to advise that there is no need at present for importers to file lawsuits to preserve their right to potential refunds of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the firm can and will assist those companies who wish to file.

A Supreme Court decision regarding the ongoing litigation challenging the IEEPA tariffs could come at any time. The court appeared skeptical of the president’s authority to levy these tariffs during oral arguments, and there is broad speculation that the justices could overturn the tariffs and order a refund of some or all of the hundreds of billions collected over the past year.

With that in mind, some companies have filed separate lawsuits seeking to prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection from liquidating entries subject to IEEPA tariffs, arguing that once liquidation occurs the courts might be powerless to order CBP to reliquidate entries and provide refunds if the tariffs are struck down. However, the Department of Justice has repeatedly conceded that the CIT has the authority to order reliquidation of affected entries, and the CIT has agreed.

As a result, ST&R’s advice to importers continues to be that there is no need to file suit now before liquidations occur to preserve their rights to potential IEEPA tariff refunds. In addition, because it is still uncertain whether protests will ultimately be required and whether CBP will refund IEEPA tariffs through protests without the need for litigation, we still advise importers to protest liquidations to ensure the availability of refunds.

However, if your company would like to file suit now, ST&R’s team – which includes five former Department of Justice attorneys – is ready to assist you in doing so. If necessary, we can even seek a stipulation with the government that reliquidation will be available if the IEEPA tariffs are held unlawful, as we have done for clients already.

For more information, please reach out to attorney Jason Kenner at (212) 549-0137 or via email. You can also contact us at messages@strtrade.com or via your usual ST&R contact.