US refunds $81 billion in tariffs after Supreme Court ruling

The United States government has refunded $81 billion in tariffs collected under a contested trade policy, according to newly released federal budget figures. The repayments follow a Supreme Court ruling that found a substantial portion of the levies unlawful. The refunds were paid to companies that had imported goods subject to the tariffs, marking a major reversal for a policy central to President Donald Trump's economic agenda.

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The figures show a sharp rise from the $5 billion returned during the same period a year earlier. Most of the repayments were processed in May and June, with a Treasury official saying the bulk of the money was returned in those two months. Roughly $71 billion of the refunds were processed over that period alone, according to the figures cited in the report.

The current US fiscal year began in October 2025. The court decision has had a direct fiscal impact at a time when the federal deficit is already widening. The US federal budget deficit reached $1.367 trillion in the first nine months of the fiscal year, up 2% from the same period a year earlier.

Interest payments on the national debt exceeded $1 trillion, while defence spending also rose by 5% amid the conflict in West Asia. The refund process remains under judicial scrutiny, and a federal judge has criticised the government's appeal against an order requiring repayment of all illegal tariffs. The case matters because tariffs were one of Trump's signature economic tools, promoted as a way to revive domestic manufacturing, secure better trade terms and reduce the budget deficit.

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The repayment figures suggest that any revenue gains from the tariffs have been largely offset by the court-ordered refunds. That leaves the administration facing both a legal setback and a fiscal one, with the scale of the repayments now visible in the federal accounts. The Supreme Court's February ruling struck down a substantial portion of Trump's broad tariff measures, forcing the government to repay duties already collected.

Before that ruling, then Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had argued that rising tariff collections showed the policy was working. The latest budget data indicate that the repayment burden has grown quickly, especially in the spring months when most of the refunds were processed. What remains unclear is how much more may still need to be repaid and how long the legal process will continue.

The court challenge is still being reviewed, and the pace of compensation to affected businesses may depend on further rulings. For now, the refund total stands as one of the clearest signs of the financial cost of the tariff dispute.

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