Bessent: Treasury to Give Refunds If US Loses IEEPA Supreme Court Case
The Treasury Department will refund tariffs imposed through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act if the government loses its case at the Supreme Court, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
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Bessent, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sept. 7, said that if the Supreme Court rules that tariffs imposed through IEEPA are illegal, then "we would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs," which he said would be "terrible for the Treasury." The case involves only the IEEPA reciprocal tariffs and fentanyl tariffs against Canada, China and Mexico, which amounts to about $160 billion out of the total of about $270 billion in total trade remedy tariffs collected this fiscal year, according to recent CBP data.
Bessent stressed that he is "confident that we will win at the Supreme Court," and should the U.S. lose, "there are numerous other avenues that we can take." Resorting to alternate tariff authorities, however, will "diminish President Trump's negotiating position," he said.
When asked if he is prepared to offer the refunds, Bessent responded, "well, I mean, there's no 'be prepared,'" but if the Supreme Court "says it, we'd have to do it." The U.S. has claimed it may raise up to $1 trillion in tariff revenue by the time the Supreme Court rules on the issue, though the government has requested an expedited ruling (see 2509040017).
Bessent also said that the U.S. is "prepared to increase pressure on Russia," through sanctions and secondary tariffs on "the countries that buy Russian oil." He said that if the U.S. and the EU "do this together," then the Russian economy "will be in full collapse. And that will bring President [Vladimir] Putin to the table."
President Donald Trump said on Sept. 7 that he was "not happy" with Putin's conduct in the Russian war in Ukraine and "not thrilled" about the loss of life in the conflict, but that he thinks "it's going to get settled." When asked about speaking with Putin and secondary tariffs, Trump responded, "we're going to get it done."