A federal judge ordered the US government to begin the process of issuing billions of dollars in refunds to importers after the Supreme Court deemed the implementation of country-specific duties was illegal, according to court filings.
The order marks a victory in the first step for importers as they navigate an unprecedented refund process.
Judge Richard Eaton of the US Court of International Trade directed US Customs and Border Protection to finalize import entries without the tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which US President Donald Trump invoked to implement the global tariffs. Supreme Court justices in their decision said Trump exceeded presidential authority and determined president cannot rely on emergency powers to impose the tariffs.
Eaton also ordered US customs to review any entries that have previously been finalized to remove the tariffs, resulting in refunds.
“Customs knows how to do this,” Eaton said during a court hearing on March 4. “And the processes are in place to perform the liquidation of the entries and to issue the refunds.”
The order comes one week after a federal appeals court on March 2 denied a request from the US Department of Justice to delay the start of the refund process. The court’s decision allowed the Court of International Trade to begin determining the mechanics of refunds.
Importers have filed over 2,000 cases at the CIT. The number of entries filed that subject to the IEEPA tariffs between February 2025 to February 2026 was over 71 million, US Customs said in a court filing.
The US collected $142 billion in duties under the IEEPA tariffs in 2025, according to an analysis of Customs and Border Patrol data by the Yale University Budget Lab.
Importers of pig iron and iron ore stand to benefit from refunds, although other metals and energy commodities were exempt from the varying country-specific rates. Importers of certain agricultural products paid IEEPA tariffs until November 2025, when Trump exempted many of them after reaching trade agreements with over a dozen countries.
Eaton set another hearing for March 6, 2026, requesting updates from Customs on refund plans. It is possible the Trump administration could challenge or appeal the court’s order.
