Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said it would be “a mess” if Donald Trump’s administration is forced to pay back billions in tariff refunds.
The justice’s remark came towards the end of Wednesday’s oral hearing to decide if Trump overstepped his authority to order sweeping tariffs around the world.
The court will rule on the legality of the administration’s use of the 1970s emergency powers, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), to impose the tariffs.
If SCOTUS rules against Trump, businesses that have already paid the duties could be entitled to refunds.
According to reports, the government has collected almost $90 billion in the levies being challenged, which is over half of America’s entire 2025 tariff revenue.
“If you win, tell me how the reimbursement process would work. Would it be a complete mess?” Barrett asked Neal Katyal, the attorney for the small businesses challenging the Trump tariffs.
“We don’t deny that it’s difficult,” replied Katyal, who agreed the five businesses he represented should be refunded if the administration loses the case.
However, he conceded it would be “complicated.”
“So, a mess,” added Barrett.
During the two-hour-and-30-minute hearing, justices appeared deeply skeptical of the legal basis for Trump’s tariff plan.
Katyal accused the administration of bypassing Congress to impose the tariffs.
“Tariffs are taxes,” he said. “They take dollars from Americans’ pockets and deposit them in the U.S. Treasury. Our founders gave that taxing power to Congress alone.”
Trump has called the case “one of the most important cases in the history of our country.”
In a Fox Business interview, the president admitted that “we’d have to pay back money” if the Supreme Court ruled against him.
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