US President Donald Trump's administration faces the possibility of having to refund more than US$133.5 billion in tariffs to importers if the US Supreme Court declares unlawful the duties he has imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to the US Customs and Border Protection agency.
That is the total assessed through December 14, when the agency issued its most recent statistical update, on imports since the Republican president first imposed tariffs last February under the 1977 economic sanctions law meant to be used only during national emergencies.
The court, which in November heard arguments concerning the legality of Trump's IEEPA-based tariffs, is set to issue rulings in cases on Friday, but has not disclosed which ones. Online betting markets Kalshi and Polymarket give Trump a 30 percent and 23 percent chance of prevailing, respectively, versus around 40 percent on each platform prior to the arguments, when the justices signaled skepticism toward the tariffs.
It is also unclear whether the court would order refunds if it deems the duties illegal or leave that issue to lower courts or to the federal government to sort out.
Trump falsely claimed in a social media post on Monday that the United States has collected or would soon collect US$600 billion in tariffs. Total net customs duties reached a record US$195 billion in fiscal 2025, which ended September 30, and monthly receipts have been in the low US$30 billion range since then, according to US Treasury data.
The following table shows CBP's breakdown of the IEEPA-based tariffs assessed on imports as of December 14 by category, exporting country and fiscal year, in billions of dollars.
Reuters
