The Trump administration is looking for ways to keep revenue from tariffs that were ruled illegal, after telling courts

Source: Fortune

The Trump administration is looking for ways to keep revenue from tariffs that were ruled illegal, after telling courts that refunds would be easy

Jason Ma
Fri, February 27, 2026 at 11:44 AM EST 3 min read

The Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s global tariffs were illegal, but that’s not going to stop the administration from holding on to the money it’s already collected.

Sources told Politico officials are weighing various ideas, including discouraging companies from demanding refunds, arguing revenue collected previously is retroactively legal under new tariffs, and letting claimants skip to the front of the line if they give up a portion of the funds they’re owed.

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But the Supreme Court didn’t detail a process for refunding tariff revenue, leaving it to the U.S. Court of International Trade to figure out. Meanwhile, there are now about 2,000 refund claims for more than $170 billion in IEEPA tariff revenue.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent already signaled the administration’s stance on refunds, telling Fox News last Friday refunds would be the “ultimate corporate welfare.” And speaking at the Economic Club of Dallas in the immediate aftermath of the ruling, he said the issue “could be dragged out for weeks, months, years.”

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-looking-ways-keep-164452573.html

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Giving back the ill-gotten gains constitutes "corporate welfare." Bessent echoes a rant by the Slobfather on Truth Social.