WASHINGTON, March 3 — In a key development in the ongoing legal battle over former President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, a U.S. federal appeals court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s request to delay proceedings involving refund claims worth potentially hundreds of billions of dollars. The move clears the way for importers and businesses to press their cases in the lower U.S. Court of International Trade without a prolonged postponement.
The dispute arises from a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on Feb. 20, 2026, which ruled that Trump’s sweeping global tariffs — imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — exceeded presidential authority and were therefore unlawful. While the high court struck down the tariff program itself, it did not provide explicit instructions about how the government should handle refunds of tariffs already collected, leaving that question unresolved and sparking an unprecedented flood of litigation from importers seeking compensation.
In anticipation of further legal complications, the Trump administration urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to implement a delay of up to four months before permitting refund litigation to resume in the trade court. Government lawyers argued that such a pause was necessary to assess legal strategy and prepare for complex proceedings involving innumerable claims. However, the appellate panel refused this request, effectively lifting any delay and returning the case to the lower court for immediate action.
The consequences of the Supreme Court’s ruling have been dramatic. As of late 2025, importers had paid more than $130 billion in tariffs under the invalidated program, and estimates suggest that total collections could exceed $175 billion — funds now potentially subject to refund.
Following the high court decision, an increasing number of companies — ranging from import-dependent firms to multinational corporations — have filed lawsuits demanding repayment of duties they argue were collected illegally. These lawsuits, which now number in the thousands, include major names such as FedEx, Costco, Dollar General, and dozens of others. Many of these cases were submitted to the U.S. Court of International Trade and were temporarily paused pending the Supreme Court’s final judgment.
Small businesses have also been vocal in the litigation, with some groups criticising the Trump administration’s bid to delay proceedings as an effort to thwart or slow justice. In filings before the appellate court, business representatives described the administration’s request for a lengthy postponement as unreasonable and urged immediate resumption of refund claims so that importers could seek reimbursement without further delay.
With the appeals court’s decision rejecting the delay, the next phase of this legal saga will unfold in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York. That court is expected to play a central role in determining how refund claims will be processed — a complex question that includes whether payments will be issued directly to importers, in what amounts, and how the government might manage any fiscal impact.
The administration’s fiscal and legal advisers have warned that billions in potential refunds could create challenges for the federal budget, though no final mechanism has yet been set for how funds would actually be returned. Meanwhile, trading partners and markets are closely watching developments, as the legal outcome could have broader implications for U.S. trade policy, executive authority, and corporate planning.
Observers say the case could shape future debates over executive power and the balance between presidential authority and congressional oversight in trade policy — a question at the heart of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the IEEPA tariffs. That ruling represents a rare rebuke of executive action at that scale and has already triggered a wave of legal and economic aftershocks.
