Revealed: Trump’s playbook to keep billions in unlawfully collected tariffs

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that President Donald Trump‘s sweeping global tariffs were unlawful, administration officials are strategizing ways to keep at least some of the $133 billion already collected — even after the Trump Justice Department told the courts the funds would be paid back, plus interest, if he lost the case.

“Early ideas include policies to discourage companies from claiming their refunds, prevent the government from paying the money back or otherwise preserve at least some of the tariff revenue, according to five people familiar with the conversations, granted anonymity to discuss them,” according to Politico.

Another idea would be to claim that the funds are now lawfully held, after the administration announced its would use alternate legal vehicles to support collecting the tariffs going forward.

Yet another possible plan would be to allow companies that agree to forfeit a portion of the funds to obtain faster refunds.

“Trump is trying to paint a blurry picture that the courts haven’t decided what to do with the money,” one of the people familiar with the strategies told Politico. They added that the normal refund process takes about two-and-a-half years, which would give the Trump administration “two years before there’s real question marks that they’re being insincere in returning that money.”

Should the Trump administration attempt to slow-walk refunds, Politico reports, its attempts would be challenged in the courts — and challenged by Democrats who see the refunds as a winning issue in a consequential political year.

“Trade lawyers and customs experts are skeptical that any mechanism the administration devises would hold up in court,” Politico noted. Judges at the Court of International Trade “are likely to scrutinize any effort that appears designed to sidestep repayment.”

“Obviously courts will not like it if the government not only doesn’t honor its word, but then makes everybody file a lawsuit to get the refund,” said Jeffrey Schwab, a lawyer for one of the companies that sued the Trump administration over the tariffs.

“What is fair in this case is the people that were harmed get the money back because that money was illegal,” Schwab told Yahoo Finance. “That money that they were charged was illegal.”

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