Tariff refunds shift legal fight toward businesses and commercial buyers

U.S. Customs and Border Protection had paid about $100 billion of roughly $166 billion in tariffs by July 31 after the Supreme Court found the levies unlawful earlier this year. Another $28 billion had been accepted through a refund portal, but disputes remain over who is entitled to recovered money.

Consumer lawsuits argue that companies could receive an improper double benefit if they both passed tariff costs to shoppers and kept refunds. Such cases face difficulties proving which price increases were tied to the tariffs, especially when businesses absorbed part of the costs.

Commercial customers may have stronger claims when contracts, invoices or negotiated agreements separately identified duties or tariff surcharges. A separate category involving finally liquidated entries, estimated at $11.4 billion, remains delayed while a trade court considers whether customs must process those refunds.

Read the full story at mondaq.com.