The U.S. has refunded approximately $100 billion in Trump tariffs to importers
The U.S. Presidential Administration has already reimbursed American importers for approximately $100 billion in tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. The amount of compensation may increase significantly in the near future.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as of early August, importers had already been reimbursed approximately $100 billion, which represents about 60% of the $165 billion the government collected from the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
In addition, the agency has already accepted applications for more than $128 billion in additional compensation, so new payments are expected in the near future.
Following a ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade, the Customs Service was required to establish a mechanism for refunding funds to American importers.
Analysts note that the compensation process is proceeding much faster than expected. Previously, administration officials had warned that payments could be delayed due to lengthy legal proceedings.
“Legal proceedings can take years before payments are made,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier.
At the same time, the reimbursement mechanism has already drawn criticism from business representatives.
Only official importers who directly imported goods into the U.S. can apply for a refund.
As a result, a significant number of small businesses effectively have no access to compensation, even though they were often the ones who bore the additional costs due to higher purchase prices or tariff surcharges.
In addition, small business representatives note that:
- not everyone is aware of the compensation program;
- some businesses lack the resources to file the necessary applications.
Despite the court’s ruling, Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he does not plan to stop using tariffs as a trade policy tool.
Last week, the U.S. government, using other legislative mechanisms, imposed new import tariffs on more than 60 countries. The tariff rates range from 10% to 12.5%.
This was reported by the Financial Times.
Twenty-five U.S. states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, challenging the imposition of new import tariffs. The plaintiffs argue that these restrictions effectively replaced the tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down in February.
As a reminder, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing new tariffs on a range of goods from Canada, including hockey equipment. The restrictions apply, in particular, to hockey sticks and other products related to one of Canada’s most popular sports. The new rules mark another step in the trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russian military entities.
