--- title: "Democratic senators in the U.S. propose a bill to mandate the refund of \"illegal\" Trump tariffs!" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/276658308.md" description: "On Monday, 22 Democratic senators introduced a bill requiring the Trump administration to refund tariffs and interest deemed illegal by the Supreme Court within 180 days. The bill calls for the Customs and Border Protection to prioritize refunds for small businesses. The Supreme Court overturned the tariffs imposed by Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act last week but did not address the issue of refunds. Democrats stated they would continue to work to curb Trump's economic policies and assist small businesses and manufacturers. The Republican side has not commented on the bill, and the House will avoid the issue of refunding tariff revenues" datetime: "2026-02-23T23:28:34.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/276658308.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276658308.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/276658308.md) --- > Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/276658308.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/276658308.md) # Democratic senators in the U.S. propose a bill to mandate the refund of "illegal" Trump tariffs! On Monday, a group of 22 Democratic senators initiated legislation **requiring the Trump administration to fully refund tariff revenues and interest deemed illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court within 180 days.** The bill mandates that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), responsible for collecting tariffs at U.S. entry points, prioritize refunds for small businesses. The U.S. Supreme Court last Friday struck down the broad tariffs imposed by Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but did not provide specific instructions regarding refunds, instead remanding the case to lower trade courts to determine the next steps. This Democratic legislation would compel the CBP to refund all tariffs and interest illegally collected by Trump based on the IEEPA, **even if these import tariffs have already been settled or "liquidated" by customs.** The bill was co-sponsored by 22 Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as the chief Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, Small Business Committee, and Foreign Relations Committee, Ron Wyden, Edward Markey, and Jeanne Shaheen. Wyden stated in a release: “Senate Democrats will continue to fight to rein in Trump’s trade and economic policies that drive up prices. **A key first step is to help those who need it most by quickly refunding money to small businesses and manufacturers.**” A spokesperson for Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to comment on whether the Democratic bill would receive consideration. However, given that the bill has just been introduced and needs to go through committee review, a final decision may take some time. House Speaker Johnson told reporters that the Republican-controlled House would steer clear of the issue of refunding tariff revenues. Johnson stated, “The White House will address this issue, and we need to give them time and space. This is certainly an unprecedented event with no precedent to follow. I believe the White House has a strong argument, and we will wait and see. This doesn’t really involve the House at this time.” The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the legislation. U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen stated last Sunday that the government would follow the lower court's ruling on refunds. Yellen said on CNN: “**We will follow the court's decision, but it may take weeks or months to receive their response.**” The CBP is set to stop collecting IEEPA tariffs at 12:01 AM Eastern Time on Tuesday. Reuters reported last Friday that, according to estimates from economists at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Budget Model, the Supreme Court's ruling could lead to **over $175 billion in tariff revenues potentially facing refunds.** Their baseline forecast model estimates that tariffs based on the IEEPA previously **generated total revenues of over $500 million per day.** ## Related News & Research - [Hegseth: Will be Trump's choice to say we've achieved what we needed for security](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279795151.md) - [TSA chaos could last longer due to Trump's new demand](https://longbridge.com/en/news/280194504.md) - [Democrats brush off latest DHS counteroffer from White House: ‘Wholly inadequate’](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279687296.md) - [Supreme Court kills the 'one policy that the president just clings to.' What this blow to Trump's tariffs means for your money](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279972528.md) - [Live results: Illinois Senate GOP primary](https://longbridge.com/en/news/279491324.md)