The Supreme Court’s bombshell tariff ruling failed to answer a $133 billion question over refunds: Here’s what happens now

The Supreme Court made clear on Friday that President Donald Trump lacks the legal authority to use his emergency powers to force U.S. companies to pay tariffs. In its 6-3 decision, the court delivered a massive setback to the White House but, in a surprise to legal observers, it failed to address the question that is top of mind for many firms: Will they be able to recoup the money, estimated at around $133 billion, they have already paid under a policy that has now been ruled illegal? According to trade lawyers, the Supreme Court majority’s silence on the refund process—which dissenting Justice Brett Kavanaugh predicted is likely to be “a mess”—means companies must now wait months to learn whether they will get their money back.

In the court’s long-awaited decision, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that Trump could not impose emergency levies—like the ones that imposed 25% duties on Canada and Mexico—since the tariffs amounted to a sort of tax that only Congress had the power to impose. This upheld the rulings of lower courts, which found the tariffs to be illegal, but allowed them to stay in place until the Supreme Court weighed in on the matter.

According to Jeff Harvey, a Texas-based trade lawyer at Bradley, the court’s silence on the refund issue was unexpected since it had come up explicitly in oral arguments—where Justice Amy Coney Barrett first referred to the potential ...