Dems Call for Gov't to Refund Tariffs  02/24 06:24

   A trio of Senate Democrats is calling for the government to start refunding 
roughly $175 billion in tariff revenues that the Supreme Court ruled were 
collected because of an illegal set of orders by President Donald Trump.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- A trio of Senate Democrats is calling for the government 
to start refunding roughly $175 billion in tariff revenues that the Supreme 
Court ruled were collected because of an illegal set of orders by President 
Donald Trump.

   Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeanne Shaheen of 
New Hampshire are unveiling a bill on Monday that would require U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection to issue refunds over the course of 180 days and pay 
interest on the refunded amount.

   The measure would prioritize refunds to small businesses and encourages 
importers, wholesalers and large companies to pass the refunds on to their 
customers.

   "Trump's illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American 
families, small businesses and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave 
after wave of new Trump tariffs," said Wyden, stressing that the "crucial first 
step" to fixing the problem begins with "putting money back in the pockets of 
small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible."

   The bill is unlikely to become law, but it reveals how Democrats are 
starting to apply public pressure on a Trump administration that has shown 
little interest in trying to return tariff revenues after the Supreme Court 
announced its 6-3 ruling on Friday.

   Because of the ruling, going into November's midterm elections for control 
of Congress, Democrats have begun telling the public that Trump illegally 
raised taxes and now refuses to repay the money back to the American people.

   Shaheen said that repairing any of the damage caused by the tariffs in the 
form of higher prices starts with "President Trump refunding the illegally 
collected tariff taxes that Americans were forced to pay." Markey stressed that 
small business tend to have "little to no resources" and a "refund process can 
be extremely difficult and time consuming" for companies.

   The Trump administration has asserted that its hands are tied, because any 
refunds should be the responsibility of further litigation in court.

   Asked if Trump thought Congress should play a role in providing refunds, 
White House spokesman Kush Desai said: "President Trump used tariffs to 
actually deliver where Democrats could only talk, so naturally Democrats are 
rolling up their sleeves to undermine President Trump and the American people 
-- pathetic but unsurprising."

   The Democrats' message could put Republicans on the defensive as they try to 
explain why the government isn't proactively seeking to return the money. GOP 
lawmakers had planned to try to preserve their House and Senate majorities by 
running on the income tax cuts that Trump signed into law last year, saying 
that tax refunds this year would help families.

   Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN on Sunday that it's "bad framing" 
to raise the question of refunds because the Supreme Court ruling did not 
address the issue. The administration's position is that any refunds will be 
decided by lawsuits winding their way through the legal system, rather than by 
a president who has repeatedly stressed to voters that he has the ability to 
act with speed and resolve.

   "It is not up to the administration -- it is up to the lower court," Bessent 
said, stressing that rather than offer any guidance he would "wait" for a court 
opinion on refunds.

   Trump has defended his use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act to impose broad tariffs on almost every U.S. trading partner, saying 
that his ability to levy taxes on imports had helped to end military conflicts, 
bring in new federal revenues and apply pressure for negotiating trade 
frameworks.

   The University of Pennsylvania's Penn Wharton Budget Model released 
estimates that the refunds would total $175 billion. That's the equivalent of 
an average of $1,300 per U.S. household. But determining how to structure 
reimbursements would be tricky, as the costs of the tariffs flowed through the 
economy in the form of customers paying the taxes directly as well as importers 
passing along the cost either indirectly or absorbing them.

   The president has previously claimed that refunds would drive up U.S. 
government debt and hurt the economy. On Friday, he told reporters at a 
briefing that the refund process could be finished after he leaves the White 
House.

   "I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years," Trump said, later 
amending his timeline by saying: "We'll end up being in court for the next five 
years."