A group of 22 US Democratic Senators on Monday introduced legislation that would require the Trump administration to fully reimburse, within 180 days, all revenue, with interest, collected from tariffs struck down by the US Supreme Court.
The legislation would require the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which collects tariffs at US entry ports, to prioritize small businesses.
The Supreme Court did not provide guidance on refunds on Friday, when it struck down the broad tariffs imposed by Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), referring the case to a lower commercial court to determine the next steps.
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The Democrats’ legislation would require CBP to reimburse all tariffs based on the IEEPA illegally imposed by Trump, plus interest, even if the import duties were finalized or “liquidated” by CBP.
The 22 Democrats who co-sponsored the bill included Senate Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senators Ron Wyden, Edward Markey, and Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrats on the Senate Finance, Small Business, and Foreign Relations committees, respectively.
“The Senate Democrats will continue to fight to curb Donald Trump’s price-raising trade and economic policies,” Wyden said in a statement. “A crucial first step is to help the people who need it most, returning the money to the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as quickly as possible.”
A spokesman for Senate Republican Leader John Thune declined to comment on whether the Democrats’ bill would be considered.
But, given that the bill has just been introduced and needs to go through committee review, a decision on its consideration is likely to take some time.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said to reporters that the Republican-controlled House would avoid the issue of refunding tariff revenue.
“The White House will handle this, and we have to give them time and space to do so. This is an unprecedented event, of course, so there is no manual to follow,” Johnson said. “I think they (the White House) have good arguments in their favor, and we’ll see how this ends up. It’s not something that really involves the House at this moment.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legislation.
The US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Sunday that the government would follow the lower courts’ decision on refunds. “We will follow what they decide, but it could take weeks or months before we have an answer,” Bessent told CNN.
The CBP is set to suspend the collection of IEEPA tariffs starting Tuesday.
Reuters reported on Friday that the Supreme Court’s decision made more than $175 billion in IEEPA tariff revenues subject to potential refunds, based on an estimate by economists at the Penn-Wharton Budget Model.
