Tariff Refunds Begin to Reach Businesses as Trump Lashes Out at Court

The U.S. government has started to refund some of the roughly $160 billion collected from tariffs that the Supreme Court deemed illegal, plus interest, turning what was once a prized windfall for President Trump into a liability on the federal balance sheet.

At least two businesses confirmed this week that they had received a partial refund, almost three months after the nation’s highest court determined that Mr. Trump did not have the power to enact his original, country-by-country duties without Congress.

The refund process is expected to be extensive, expensive and lengthy. The government must return money to about 330,000 importers, federal officials previously estimated, sending back what they paid in taxes. That money must be paid with interest, which is accruing at an estimated rate of about $650 million per month.

The money is reserved largely for businesses that imported goods, not for American families, though both have faced rising costs as a result of Mr. Trump’s trade war. Many large companies, including Costco, have separately sued the government to recoup their tariff payments, while they simultaneously stare down class-action cases brought by angry customers seeking financial relief.

The refund process comes at a difficult political moment for Mr. Trump, who arrived in China on Wednesday for high-stakes trade talks. Just last week, a panel of federal judges found that the president broke the law when he replaced his illegal duties with a 10 percent tax on nearly all imports.

The government has appealed that case, and the president’s 10 percent tariff has remained in place while arguments continue. But if it loses, the Trump administration may once again be on the hook to return billions of dollars in collected tariffs plus interest to businesses.