US President Donald Trump has paid American companies 100 billion dollars as duty refunds as part of the initiative ‘Liberation Day’, through customs officials.
According to a recent document filed in court by the US Customs and Border Protection Agency, that sum represents approximately 60% of all customs revenue collected by the government.
Another 29 billion on the way
These 100 billion are destined to increase: in fact, almost 29 billion dollars in potential refunds remain under scrutiny by the authorities while another 1.6 billion dollars have not been paid because the importers have not yet provided their bank details. The refunds follow the Supreme Court ruling in February, in which judges ruled that blanket import duties introduced under the economic powers were illegal. The White House had referred to a 1977 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which gives the president the power to ‘regulate’ trade in response to an emergency situation.
But the measures aroused protests both nationally and internationally by companies who faced a sudden increase in taxes on shipments entering the United States, as well as fears that such levies could lead to increased prices and, consequently, also increased expenses. Following the Supreme Court ruling, several large American companies have already requested the reimbursement of large sums: for example, Amazon received around 600 million dollars in the second quarter. Under US customs law, only importers who have paid duties directly can request refunds, leaving the decision to grant relief to consumers entirely up to individual companies.