Six months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s broad “Liberation Day” import tariffs as unlawful, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has disbursed $100 billion (equivalent to £78 billion) in tariff refunds to affected importing businesses, according to recent official court filings. This payout accounts for approximately 60 percent of the total tariff revenue the federal government collected under the contested policy.\n\nDespite the large-scale repayment to date, roughly $30.6 billion in outstanding refunds have yet to reach eligible importers. Of this unpaid sum, close to $29 billion is still going through routine review by U.S. trade regulatory bodies, while an additional $1.6 billion remains held up because claimant companies have not submitted the required banking information to process transfers.\n\nThe refund process was triggered by a landmark Supreme Court ruling issued in February this year. The court’s judges concluded that the sweeping import tariffs, which the Trump administration justified by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — a law that grants the president authority to regulate international commerce during declared national emergencies — exceeded the legal powers granted to the executive branch under the legislation.\n\nWhen the tariffs were first implemented, the policy sparked widespread pushback both within the U.S. and among global trading partners. Businesses across sectors decried the sudden jump in taxes on goods entering the U.S. market, and economists raised widespread concerns that the additional costs would be passed to consumers in the form of higher retail prices across the economy.\n\nIn the months following the Supreme Court’s decision, dozens of large U.S. corporations have already secured substantial refunds. E-commerce and cloud computing giant Amazon is one of the highest-profile beneficiaries: the company’s chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky confirmed during the firm’s second-quarter earnings call that Amazon received roughly $600 million in total tariff refunds over the three-month period. Olsavsky added that the company will pass specific refund amounts directly back to customers that were originally charged the tariff fees, while the remaining funds will be used to keep overall store prices lower for consumers.\n\nU.S. Customs officials expect the total value of disbursed refunds to continue climbing in the coming months, as agency reviewers work through the backlog of pending claims and importers submit the outstanding banking details needed to release the held funds.