Washington, DC: The United States government has refunded $81 billion in tariffs collected collected under a contested policy of president Donald Trump that plunged the world into a trade war.
In a major blow for Trump, Washington took the decision following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that a significant portion of the levies were collected unlawfully.
The beneficiaries of this payback were companies that had imported goods subject to tariffs. The sum is a sharp increase from the $5 billion returned during the same period a year earlier. The current US fiscal year began in October 2025.
The spike follows the Supreme Court’s February decision striking down a substantial portion of Trump’s broad tariff measures, forcing the government to repay duties already collected, The Guardian reported. Most of the repayments were made during May and June, a US Treasury official told the publication.
Roughly $71 billion of the refunds were processed over those two months alone, representing about 42 per cent of the $166 billion in tariffs that are subject to repayment, according to Sky News.
This has dealt a major setback to one of Trump’s signature economic policies. Since returning to office last year, the US president has promoted tariffs as a tool to revive domestic manufacturing, negotiate better trade agreements and reduce the federal budget deficit, as reported by The Indian Express.
Fresh budget figures suggest that the fiscal gains from tariff collections have been largely offset by the court-ordered repayments.
The US federal budget deficit widened to $1.367 trillion during the first nine months of the fiscal year, an increase of 2 per cent compared with the same period last year, The Guardian said. Interest payments on the national debt exceeded $1 trillion, up 14 per cent, while defence spending also rose by 5 per cent amid the conflict in West Asia, according to the report.
The refund process remains under judicial scrutiny though. A federal judge recently criticised the government’s appeal against an order requiring the repayment of all illegal tariffs, saying the legal challenge was slowing compensation to affected businesses, as per Sky News.
Former treasury secretary Scott Bessent had argued before the Supreme Court ruling that rising tariff collections demonstrated the success of Trump’s trade agenda.
“The budget results showed the US was ‘reaping the rewards’ from Mr Trump’s tariffs,” the report quoted Bessent as saying.
It does not seem that the Trump administration has been much affected by this setback. It is preparing a fresh round of tariffs. With the current temporary 10 per cent global tariff scheduled to expire on July 24, the White House is considering new duties of between 10 and 12.5 per cent, The Guardian reported.
The fresh tariffs are expected to target countries including India, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan and China, with Washington citing concerns over forced labour enforcement and industrial overcapacity. The administration has also threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Brazil.
Trump has also warned European countries that impose digital services taxes on major US technology companies of 100 per cent tariffs on exports to the United States.
“Any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100 per cent TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The tariff would “supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not”, he added.
Countries including France, Spain and Italy already levy digital services taxes on large technology companies, while the UK imposes a 2 per cent digital services tax on major online platforms, search engines and marketplaces such as Apple, Google and Amazon, the report said.
