Most Trump tariffs ruled illegal in huge blow to White House trade policy

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38. Tariff Payment Paper Trail Is Critical for Building Refund Case

trump and company promised the courts that they would refund any tariffs if they lose as a condition of the appeal of the first judgment. Lawyers are advising people and businesses on what information may be needed to get a refund of tariffs

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https://news.bloomberglaw.com/in-house-counsel/tariff-payment-paper-trail-is-critical-for-building-refund-case

Trade lawyers are telling clients to keep thorough records of the tariffs they’re paying—starting immediately if they haven’t already—ahead of a court decision that could result in billions in refunds pouring back to companies......

Whether companies get a refund, how much gets refunded, and the process for getting money back to companies all hinge on the outcome of the litigation.

“A lot is riding on this case, both for the future as well as for the tariffs that have been collected already,” said Ginger Faulk, a partner at Eversheds Sutherland who leads the firm’s US and global sanctions practices.....

If the court declares the tariffs were entirely illegal, it’s almost certain that levies already paid would be eligible for a refund, said Michael Lowell, chair of Reed Smith’s global regulatory enforcement group.

The decision could also be more nuanced than a simple yes or no, Gamalski said. For example, the court could point to particular stretches of time when the legal status of the tariffs changed. It could rule that the national emergency justification for using IEEPA to impose tariffs was valid for some countries, but not others.

Any of those outcomes could require companies to more finely parse out what they paid and when, she added.

Meanwhile, lawyers said, it’s also not clear if refund payments would be issued automatically, or if companies would need to calculate what they’re owed and file for their refunds themselves.

“You should have all of your data ready because you might be going for everything; you might be having to isolate some of that,” Gamalski said. “And if you are starting at square zero of pulling everything together, it’s going to be just that much harder.”

Collecting the refund of the tariffs will be interesting and fun to watch