A federal judge handed small businesses a new weapon in their fight to recover money the Trump administration collected illegally.
Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade on Thursday certified a class action brought by Freestyle World Inc. on behalf of every importer that paid tariffs President Donald Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act between February 1, 2025, and February 19, 2026. The class excludes companies that already filed their own suits but opens the way for tens of thousands of importers to recover their money without suing individually.
The ruling builds on the Supreme Court’s February decision in Learning Resources v. Trump, which held that the law “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” The government collected an estimated $166 billion in unlawful duties from roughly 330,000 importers, according to the filing.
Customs and Border Protection has since refunded about $126 billion in duties and interest, through an automated system called CAPE, which Eaton described as “a remarkable success.” But many importers have not used it, and Eaton wrote that they are believed to be “overwhelmingly small importers” held back by cost, effort or a lack of awareness.
The system also rejects some categories of entries. If CAPE stopped working today, Eaton wrote, about $30 billion in unlawfully collected duties would remain in the Treasury.
The Trump administration argued the request came too late, that each importer’s claim was too individualized and that the plaintiffs were really seeking money damages. Eaton rejected the arguments, saying the government could not have expected the Supreme Court’s ruling to apply only to the companies in that case.
“It is simply incredible that the Government was caught off guard when Freestyle and the proposed class banded together to seek reliquidation relief as a class,” Eaton wrote.
He added that refunds would be calculated by computer from records Customs already holds, returning each importer’s deposit “not a penny more or a penny less.”
The Trump administration has separately appealed a related Eaton order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, per the filing. Eaton scheduled a closed conference with the parties for October 13 and ordered them to submit a proposed schedule by October 22, including a deadline for the Trump administration to respond to the complaint.
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