Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade issued an order directing the Trump administration to begin refunding importers. The order is expected to affect millions of tariff entries after the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s policies to be unlawful.
“[T]he Chief Judge has indicated that I am the only judge who will hear cases pertaining to the refund of [International Emergency Economic Powers Act] IEEPA duties. So there is no danger that another Judge, even one in this Court, will reach any contrary conclusions,” the judge wrote. “To find otherwise would be to thwart the efficient administration of justice and to deny those importers who have filed suit the efficient resolution of their claims, and to deny entirely importers who have not filed suit the benefit of the Learning Resources decision.”
Eaton directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “liquidate those entries without regard to the IEEPA duties,” the order adds. “Any liquidated entries for which liquidation is not final shall be reliquidated without regard to IEEPA duties.”
Brandon Lord, the executive director of trade programs at U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Trade, wrote in a filing that “any validated refund of IEEPA duties would include interest.”
“Regardless of entry type and liquidation cycle, CBP still requires a review period to ensure no violation of other Customs laws and no other duties, taxes, or fees are owed,” Lord said.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that some of President Trump’s tariffs go beyond the scope of an emergency law. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. The majority, however, rejected Trump’s use of the IEEPA, a law that allows the president to “regulate importation.”
“We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. “We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
