"US Will Refund About Half The Tariffs If...": What Team Trump Said

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that the United States will issue "rebates" if the country's Supreme Court decides to strike down "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by President Donald Trump on almost all of Washington's trading partners. The remarks came after a federal appeals court last month ruled Trump overstepped presidential powers by imposing hefty duties.

Speaking during an appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press", Bessent said, "We would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs, which would be terrible for the Treasury...If the court says it, we'd have to do it."

Without citing details, the Treasury Secretary, however, said that there are "numerous other avenues" that can be taken on tariffs, though they would "diminish President Trump's negotiating position".

Earlier, during an interview with CBS News, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett stated that there were "other legal authorities" available to implement tariffs if the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration. According to him, "Section 232" investigations, which were used to implement steel and aluminium tariffs, were among other options.

Last week, Trump asked the Supreme Court to swiftly overturn a lower court decision that found many of his sweeping tariffs illegal. The petition comes after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on August 29 ruled in a 7-4 vote that Trump overstepped his authority when he implemented the tariffs on nearly all trading partners through an emergency economic powers act, saying his action did not fall within the president's mandate and that imposing tariffs was "a core Congressional power."

Earlier in May, the New York-based Court of International Trade declared the tariffs were unlawful.

Filings by the Trump administration say that "delaying a ruling until June 2026 could result in a scenario in which 750 billion to one trillion dollars in tariffs have already been collected, and unwinding them could cause significant disruption."

"The stakes in this case could not be higher," Solicitor General John Sauer said in Wednesday night's filing.

US businesses have paid over 210 billion dollars as of August 24 to cover the tariffs deemed illegal by US courts. If the Supreme Court upholds the decision, the US Treasury could have to "give back" tariff revenue collected, per media reports. 

Trump used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose steep levies on trading partners, declaring a national emergency in April and arguing that a trade imbalance had harmed domestic manufacturing and posed a threat to national security.

The appeals court nevertheless paused its ruling from taking effect until October 14, giving Trump time to appeal to the Supreme Court.