Refunds Mostly Benefit Importers

After the Supreme Court ruled many Trump‑era tariffs illegal, the government began accepting claims to refund roughly $160–170 billion. The refunds are payable only to the entities that formally paid the duties (importers and firms), while consumers who faced higher prices have no direct claim and must rely on businesses to pass savings along. — This frames a likely large, regressive transfer of legal liabilities into corporate windfalls and shapes debates about remedy design, consumer relief, and political accountability for executive trade actions.