An Australian clothing company, Nashie, recently received a six-figure refund from the US government, including 6% interest, for tariffs it had paid on US imports. It’s just one of thousands of businesses reclaiming tariffs imposed on what President Donald Trump called “Liberation Day”.

Of the roughly US$166 billion due to be refunded, more than US$85 billion has already been returned to businesses.

But while a US Supreme Court ruling in February reversed the tariffs, much of the economic and political damage, and perhaps some of the Trump administration’s gains, will be hard to undo.

Tariffs not designed to last

Trump’s April 2025 tariffs relied on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that lets presidents respond to extraordinary foreign threats – yet never mentions the word “tariff”.

On February 20 2026, the US Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that IEEPA did not authorise tariffs – under the Constitution, only Congress has the power to impose taxes and duties.

The decision placed an important limit on the president’s power to impose tariffs. But it did not end Trump’s tariff policy, which was, from the beginning, designed to buy time to rewrite US trade relations with the rest of the world.

Trump responded with a temporary 10% global tariff, which expires on July 24 after the statutory 150-day limit.

Trump has also pursued more targeted tariffs under laws dealing with unfair trade practices, national security and anti-slavery........

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