The Trump administration is seeking to delay court proceedings over whether it must refund importers billions of dollars in tariffs recently struck down by the US Supreme Court, marking a contentious start to the next phase of the legal fight.
The government wants to wait as long as four months before reviving litigation before the US Court of International Trade on the refund question, according to a filing by the Justice Department late Friday.
“Complexity in the future counsels appropriately careful process, not breakneck speed,” the government said.
The Justice Department appeared to acknowledge that there would be a refund process after its loss in the Supreme Court, warning that “the coming process will take time” and noting the example of an earlier mass refund situation that took years to play out.
But the government’s filing did not offer a full-throated assurance that the administration would commit to refunding all importers the full amount of tariffs they paid.
The Justice Department’s lawyers wrote that a delay wouldn’t hurt companies because “monetary loss is a classic harm that can be remedied by payment of money with appropriate interest”.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on February 20 was silent on the refund question, meaning it will go back to the New York-based trade court to resolve. But that next phase is in limbo until the Supreme Court and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit formally close out their proceedings, which has not happened yet.
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