by The Trump administration is ordered to refund $130 billion in duties
WASHINGTON — In the home furnishings industry, tariffs have always been part of doing business. But they have been an especially hot topic since President Donald Trump took office again in January 2025 and instituted sweeping tariffs on trade. With frequent changes, retailers have been doing their best to keep up, either increasing prices to offset costs or, when possible, changing suppliers altogether.
In February, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that some of President Trump’s tariffs that were instated under the International Emergency Powers Act were invoked unconstitutionally.
Now, tariffs are in the news again. On March 4, the Court of International Trade, in a decision by Judge Richard Eaton, ordered the U.S. government to refund the funds collected under the International Emergency Powers Act. The refund owed would be the difference between the duties collected under the tariffs and the duties that would have been owed absent those tariffs.
Eaton’s decision was made based on a case brought by Atmus Filtration, a Nashville, Tennessee-based company that makes filters and filtration products.
John Boomhover, director of compliance and customs services for Norfolk, Virginia-based logistics company CV International, said: “This order formally authorizes the disbursement of refund payments.”
“This ruling represents a swift and consequential development in the ongoing litigation,” Boomhover added.
Eaton also stated this case is not affected by the 2025 Trump v. CASA Inc. ruling, which restricted universal injunctions by federal district courts. According to a recent article on the website of business law firm Snell & Wilmer, headquartered in Phoenix, the Court of International Trade “order states that principle does not apply in this context because of the CIT’s nationwide jurisdiction over trade matters.”
While Eaton’s ruling is welcome news for many who work in imports, particularly in the home furnishings industry, it is unclear how exactly the process will be executed and when those who are eligible can expect refunds. “Customs knows how to do this. … They do it every day. They liquidate entries and make refunds,” Eaton said in his ruling.
Eaton set an additional hearing for Friday, March 6, when he expects to hear updates from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol regarding their plan to refund more than 70 million entries. In court filings, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said that the process would be “unprecedented” and insinuated it might need additional time to determine the logistics.
Although Eaton’s ruling is potentially paving the way for some clarity and financial relief for imports-based businesses, it is likely that it will take significant time to organize and execute the refunds. But this ruling may be challenged.
The same article on the Snell & Wilmer website also states: “At the same time, the order is likely to draw appellate scrutiny, given its implications for universal-injunction jurisprudence. As a result, the procedural framework governing IEEPA tariff refunds may continue to evolve through further litigation. In addition, if a blanket refund does occur, importers of record can expect claim demands from end-users who actually paid the tariffs (or believe they paid the tariffs) downstream. After the IEEPA tariffs were implemented, certain companies provided a line item on invoices to customers reflecting the pass-through tariff cost. Others may have just raised prices accordingly. In any event, this will open up a new front on the refund issues as consumer advocates, state attorneys general and large customers seek a slice of the tariff refund pie.”
It will be interesting to see what happens next; it seems that talk about tariffs won’t be cooling off any time soon.
