US refunds $81bn in tariffs after Supreme Court ruled Trump's IEEPA levies illegal

The refund wave

From October 2025 through the end of June, the US government refunded approximately $81.3 billion in tariffs, Treasury Department data show. The figure compares with roughly $5.3 billion returned during the same period a year earlier. A Treasury spokesperson confirmed the surge was almost entirely driven by the Supreme Court's February ruling against tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The total was almost entirely the result of the court's tariffs decision.

The bulk of the repayments landed in May and June, when about $70 billion flowed back to importers. In June alone, the Treasury refunded $49.2 billion while collecting $23.6 billion in gross tariff receipts, producing a negative monthly balance of $25.6 billion.

The Supreme Court decision

In February, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Donald Trump had exceeded his authority by using the IEEPA of 1977 to impose sweeping tariffs. The majority held that the 1977 law, which empowers a president to act during a national emergency, does not grant the executive branch the power to levy tariffs, a function reserved for Congress.

The president lacked the clear congressional authorization to carry out the tax strategy.

Conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority. Trump reacted sharply, saying he was "absolutely ashamed" of his own appointees for their votes.

The Liberation Day tariffs

The invalidated duties included the blanket 10 percent tariff Trump announced on April 2, 2025, an event he called "Liberation Day," along with higher country-specific rates applied to dozens of trading partners. The policy was suspended after one week when financial markets recoiled, then reintroduced later with modifications. Over fiscal year 2025, the levies generated roughly $195 billion in revenue.

After the Supreme Court ruling, many companies filed for refunds of duties already paid. A federal judge had earlier warned that the government's appeal against a full-refund order was delaying payouts.

Fiscal impact

Despite the refunds, net tariff collections are still running higher than the prior year. In the first nine months of the fiscal year (October through June), gross tariff receipts reached about $163 billion, a 51 percent increase over the same period a year earlier.

The federal budget deficit, which had narrowed in fiscal 2025 thanks to the tariff windfall, is widening again. Over the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the deficit reached $1.367 trillion, a 2 percent rise. In June, the monthly deficit hit $120 billion, compared with a $27 billion surplus in June 2025. Interest payments on the national debt crossed $1 trillion over the same nine months, up 14 percent, while military spending rose 5 percent because of the Iran war.

What comes next

Trump responded to the court defeat by imposing a new 10 percent surcharge on global imports under a different legal basis. That levy is set to expire on 24 July unless Congress passes legislation to extend it. Reports indicate the White House is preparing a replacement framework that could affect partners including the United Kingdom, Japan, India, Taiwan, and China, with rates expected between 10 and 12.5 percent.

I am absolutely ashamed of my own appointees.