Bloomberg Law and other sites have been planning how to pursue refunds for trump's illegal tariffs

[LetMyPeopleVote]

I follow a couple of sites and have seen lawyers/other professionals trying to plan on how to claim refunds on trump's illegal tariffs. trump and company committed to the court to refund any tariffs as a condition of the appeal of the first ruling. How such refunds will be handled is going to be fun to watch

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/in-house-counsel/billions-in-tariff-refunds-hang-on-litigation-outcome-explained

As lawsuits over the legality of Trump’s tariffs move through the courts, thousands of companies are waiting to find out whether the levies they’ve been paying will be refunded.

US Customs and Border Protection collected $46.9 billion in revenue based on 22 presidential actions between Jan. 20 and May 30, the agency said in its latest monthly update. A sizable portion of those funds could go back to companies if a court ultimately decides the tariffs were unlawful.

Trump cited a 1977 presidential emergency powers law as the legal basis of some of his key tariff measures—including duties on China, Canada, and Mexico levied in response to fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration, and a nearly universal 10% global tariff. But no president has ever before imposed tariffs under that law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Two lower courts have agreed with plaintiffs that the tariff measures overstep the authority granted in IEEPA, and the cases are now being appealed.....

Companies aren’t rushing to add their name to a lawsuit yet, in part because they are still well within the roughly year-and-a-half window for adjusting their tariff under normal procedure. But if the cases aren’t resolved by the time that window closes, “this point just gets really challenging,” Gamalski said.

Companies could ask Customs for an extension of the liquidation period, McAllister said.

In the meantime, attorneys are telling their clients to be prepared by using their customs data to calculate what they’re paying IEEPA tariffs on.

“If the opportunity comes up to join a class, if the opportunity comes up to get a refund, you do not want to miss an opportunity or a window that might not be open for very long,” while collecting the necessary data, Gamalski said. “That would be terrible.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Tariff Payment Paper Trail Is Critical for Building Refund Case

trump and company promised the courts that they would refund any tariffs if they lose as a condition of the appeal of the first judgment. Lawyers are advising people and businesses on what information may be needed to get a refund of tariffs

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/in-house-counsel/tariff-payment-paper-trail-is-critical-for-building-refund-case

Trade lawyers are telling clients to keep thorough records of the tariffs they’re paying—starting immediately if they haven’t already—ahead of a court decision that could result in billions in refunds pouring back to companies......

Whether companies get a refund, how much gets refunded, and the process for getting money back to companies all hinge on the outcome of the litigation.

“A lot is riding on this case, both for the future as well as for the tariffs that have been collected already,” said Ginger Faulk, a partner at Eversheds Sutherland who leads the firm’s US and global sanctions practices.....

If the court declares the tariffs were entirely illegal, it’s almost certain that levies already paid would be eligible for a refund, said Michael Lowell, chair of Reed Smith’s global regulatory enforcement group.

The decision could also be more nuanced than a simple yes or no, Gamalski said. For example, the court could point to particular stretches of time when the legal status of the tariffs changed. It could rule that the national emergency justification for using IEEPA to impose tariffs was valid for some countries, but not others.

Any of those outcomes could require companies to more finely parse out what they paid and when, she added.

Meanwhile, lawyers said, it’s also not clear if refund payments would be issued automatically, or if companies would need to calculate what they’re owed and file for their refunds themselves.

“You should have all of your data ready because you might be going for everything; you might be having to isolate some of that,” Gamalski said. “And if you are starting at square zero of pulling everything together, it’s going to be just that much harder.”

Collecting the refund of the tariffs will be interesting and fun to watch