Trump administration has paid back 60% of $165bn in tariff refunds

The Trump administration has refunded about $100bn from the tariffs it collected before the US Supreme Court ruled them illegal, according to reports.The $100bn (£74bn) figure, which represents 60% of the total $165bn collected from Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs, was reported by customs officials to the US Court of International Trade (CIT) on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times.Tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods, have been a key part of Trump’s economic plan since he took office again last year.In February, the Supreme Court struck down a chunk of the extra tariffs Trump had imposed, forcing the government to return money to the companies that had paid them.Trump has pitched tariffs as a solution for the US economy, bringing back domestic production, securing better trade deals and closing the deficit in the federal budget.However, the deficit has grown after narrowing last year thanks to rising tax revenue and tariff income. It hit $1.37tn in the first nine months of the fiscal year, up 2% compared with the same period in 2025.Trump imposed a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries last month to replace a 10% global duty that was due to expire. The levies range between 10% and 12.5% on countries including the UK, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, China and the European Union’s 27 members states.The latest tariffs have been introduced under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which is aimed against countries that engage in forced labour.However, this week a coalition of 25 US states sued the Trump administration over the levies, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes struck down by the Supreme Court in February.The states have asked the CIT to stop the tariffs, declare them unlawful and order refunds of duties that have already been paid.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe states involved in the action argue that the tariffs on 59 countries and the EU cover 99.4% of US imports. Officials in the Trump administration have said the countries have not done enough to crack down on products made by forced labour.The New York attorney general, Letitia James, said the Trump administration, after losing at the Supreme Court in February, was “once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs”.