Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned the Supreme Court that upholding lower court rulings against President Donald Trump's tariffs could force the U.S. to refund billions, urging the justices to consider the sweeping economic consequences.
The government filed a petition last week urging the high court to act quickly. The Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will hear arguments in November.
The petition challenges a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 29 that struck down Trump's tariffs. The appeals court upheld a ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not grant the president unlimited authority to impose tariffs.
"The longer a final ruling is delayed, the greater the risk of economic disruption," Bessent wrote in a declaration to the court attached to the expedited petition. "For example, delaying a ruling until June 2026 could result in a scenario in which $750 billion-$1 trillion in tariffs have already been collected, and unwinding them could cause significant disruption.
"The frameworks for trade agreements already in place contain additional provisions whereby the trade partners agree to significant purchases from and/or investments in the United States. ... The longer the delay in a ruling, the greater these commitments will become. If these agreed upon frameworks were unwound and the investments and purchases had to be repaid, the economic consequences would be catastrophic."
Refunding tariffs is rare but not unprecedented for the U.S., CNBC reported Monday, but the scale under Trump could be without precedent. Under former President Joe Biden, importers of some Chinese goods were granted refunds on Section 301 tariffs during a limited period, according to a 2022 Holland & Knight alert. But those refunds were relatively paltry.
Bessent told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday he is "confident" that the Trump administration will persuade the Supreme Court to reverse the appeals court ruling.
But if the Supreme Court said the refunds are required, "we'd have to do it," Bessent said, adding that would be "terrible."
Solicitor General John Sauer echoed Bessent's sentiment in the administration's initial petition asking the Supreme Court to decide the issue.
"The stakes in this case could not be higher," Sauer wrote. "The President and his Cabinet officials have determined that the tariffs are promoting peace and unprecedented economic prosperity, and that the denial of tariff authority would expose our nation to trade retaliation without effective defenses and thrust America back to the brink of economic catastrophe.
"To the President and his most senior advisors, these tariffs thus present a stark choice: With tariffs, we are a rich nation; without tariffs, we are a poor nation. ... The President predicts that 'if the United States were forced to pay back the trillions of dollars committed to us, America could go from strength to failure the moment such an incorrect decision took effect,' and 'the economic consequences would be ruinous, instead of unprecedented success.' "
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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