(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump said Monday that repaying tariff revenue and related investments from his tariffs on imports would be "almost impossible."
It was the latest indication that the president remains concerned about a potentially adverse ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on a legal challenge to his authority to issue tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump has previously suggested that a ruling against his tariffs would lead the nation to economic ruin. That came up again on Monday.
"The actual numbers that we would have to pay back if, for any reason, the Supreme Court were to rule against the United States of America on Tariffs, would be many Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and that doesn’t include the amount of 'payback' that Countries and Companies would require for the Investments they are making on building Plants, Factories, and Equipment, for the purpose of being able to avoid the payment of Tariffs," Trump wrote in a social media post. "When these Investments are added, we are talking about Trillions of Dollars!"
In a filing with the Court of International Trade on Thursday, attorneys for the federal government said they will reimburse the tariffs under the 1977 law if required to do so.
In that case, U.S. Customs and Border Protection wrote that they won't "oppose the Court's authority to order reliquidation of entries of merchandise subject to the challenged IEEPA duties and that they will refund any IEEPA duties found to have been unlawfully collected, after a final and unappealable decision has been issued finding the duties to have been unlawfully collected and ordering defendants to refund the duties."
Trump said it would be a disaster.
"It would be a complete mess, and almost impossible for our Country to pay. Anybody who says that it can be quickly and easily done would be making a false, inaccurate, or totally misunderstood answer to this very large and complex question," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "It may not be possible but, if it were, it would be Dollars that would be so large that it would take many years to figure out what number we are talking about and even, who, when, and where, to pay."
The president added: "In other words, if the Supreme Court rules against the United States of America on this National Security bonanza, WE'RE SCREWED!"
Erica York, with the Tax Foundation, said the president was incorrect.
"The tariffs raised $134B for the Treasury through Dec 14. If they're illegal, that is what would be refunded," she wrote on X. "Promised foreign investments would go to the private sector, not the Treasury – and most are still just promises. There's nothing for the government to pay back."
Trump has made tariffs a central part of both his domestic and foreign agendas during his second term. Last April, Trump imposed import taxes of at least 10% on every U.S. trading partner. Since then, the president has suspended, changed, increased, decreased and reimposed tariffs under the 1977 law.
A group of states and small businesses challenged Trump's tariffs under the 1977 law, winning in two lower courts before the administration appealed to the Supreme Court.
The high court agreed to hear the case on an expedited basis, given the economic stakes at issue. The Trump administration could be forced to refund more than $133.5 billion in tariff revenue to importers if the Supreme Court sides with the states and small businesses in the case.
Businesses have reported that tariffs have pushed up prices for consumers.
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