More quickly than expected, the U.S. Court of International Trade (USITC), to which the Supreme Court remanded the issue of tariff refunds, ruled on March 5—it will be appealed, but that appeal may be dealt with fairly quickly—that refunds of tariffs, across the board for those tariffs other than the sectoral ones (meaning, for about $135 billion total in taxes), should be paid promptly and according to a formula avoiding new calculations in each case.
Judge Richard Eaton, a G.W. Bush appointee, ruled as well that he will be the sole judge on the USITC to decide these refund cases. At the same time, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the USITC will be the sole court involved.
The total for the refunds may be as high as $175 billion, depending on the final count of tariffs actually paid during the 10 months they were unconstitutionally applied.
