The Supreme Court’s tariff ruling has created a heated debate about what happens to the revenues already collected by the government. We know that our HOTLINE readers have different opinions of the tariffs, but the law is the law.

Tariffs illegally collected need to be refunded to the businesses that paid them. The total revenue collected is estimated at roughly $120 to $175 billion, making the refunds a massive undertaking involving an estimated 300,000 importers. More than 2,000 tariff lawsuits have been filed by merchants and importers including FedEx, Dollar General, Brooks Brothers, and Bausch & Lomb.

Our recommendation is that the government return the tariff revenues to the companies that directly paid them, if and when these companies file for refunds. Some will, some won’t. Our new report recommends the refunds be made expeditiously to avoid interest payments and lawsuits, which would only add unnecessary costs to the government and small businesses.

Of course, some of the cost of tariffs were passed on to consumers.  As such, we believe it would be wise for the businesses receiving refunds to pass at least part of the windfall along to their customers as rebates or discounts on future purchases.

Read the full study here: