US to stop collecting tariffs deemed illegal by Supreme Court on Tuesday

WASHINGTON — The US Customs and Border Protection agency said it will halt collections of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) at 12.01 am EST (1.01pm SGT) on Tuesday (Feb 24), more than three days after the US Supreme Court declared the duties illegal.

The agency said in a message to shippers on its Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) that it will de-activate all tariff codes associated with President Donald Trump’s prior IEEPA-related orders as of Tuesday.

The IEEPA tariff collection halt coincides with Trump’s imposition of a new, 15 per cent global tariff under a different legal authority to replace the ones struck down by the Supreme Court on Friday.

CBP gave no reason why it was continuing to collect the tariffs at ports of entry days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, and its message offered no information about possible refunds for importers.

The message noted that the collection halt does not affect any other tariffs imposed by Trump, including those under the Section 232 national security statute and the Section 301 unfair trade practices statute.

“CBP will provide additional guidance to the trade community through CSMS messages as appropriate,” the agency said.

Reuters reported on Friday that the Supreme Court decision made more than US$175 billion (S$221 billion) in US Treasury revenue generated by the IEEPA tariffs subject to potential refunds, based on an estimate by Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists. 

Their estimate from a ground-up forecasting model showed that IEEPA-based tariffs were generating more than US$500 million per day in gross revenue.

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