Trump’s tariff policy is illegal, the fight for refunds is starting

The US Supreme Court has declared President Donald Trump's emergency tariff policy illegal and ordered it to be canceled.

Although this historic ruling has dealt a major blow to the Trump administration's economic and foreign policy, a complex question has now come to the fore - what is the future of the $133 billion or $133 billion that has already been collected as taxes on imported goods?

Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker has sent an invoice or bill directly to Trump demanding a refund of about $9 billion. He complains that these illegal tariffs have caused disaster for farmers and have caused the prices of everyday goods to skyrocket for ordinary people.

According to Governor Pritzker's claim, each Illinois family is entitled to an average of $1,700 in refunds. Not only political leaders, but also large companies are now waiting for their tax refunds. However, the process of refunding the money is expected to be very chaotic.

President Trump himself admitted at a press conference on Friday (February 20) that the refund process could take several years to complete. He expressed his fear that the legal battle over the matter could last for the next two to five years.

Trump had previously promised that ordinary Americans would receive a 'rebate' or dividend from the collected tariffs. But experts believe that the likelihood of ordinary people receiving any money directly in the current situation is very low. US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant has also expressed doubts about this.

It is estimated that even if the money is refunded, it will mainly go back to the importing companies. According to the Penn-Wharton budget model, the amount of refunds or refundable money could reach $175 billion.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in his dissent, warned that the ruling lacks a specific framework for returning the huge amount of money collected, which will create a big mess in the future. Although the US Customs Agency has a system for refunding taxes collected in error, it has never before had the experience of refunding hundreds of millions of dollars to thousands of companies at once.

Large companies such as Costco and Revlon have already filed lawsuits demanding refunds. As a result, the US is going to face a long-term legal and administrative complexities in the coming days with this huge amount of money.

Source: NDTV.