Hochul to feds: Fork over $13.5B in tariff refunds

By Chris Wade
The Center Square

Gov. Kathy Hochul is demanding the Trump administration refund New York $13.5 billion in tariff payments following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, called on the federal agency to “immediately formulate and implement a plan to refund all tariff proceeds” in response to the court’s ruling striking down most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs as “unlawful” following a legal challenge from states and businesses.

“Having unlawfully seized billions of dollars from American people and businesses, the federal government should now do the right thing: give it back,” Hochul,a Democrat, said in a statement.

The average New York household was saddled with an average $1,751 in added costs — or $13.5 billion statewide — due to the president’s tariffs since they were enacted last year, Hochul wrote, citing estimates by Yale University’s Budget Lab.

New Yorkers have felt the consequences of the president’s tariffs “ripple through every sector of our economy,” Hochul wrote. Consumers “paid dramatically more for everyday goods” she said, while small businesses “faced increased supply and equipment costs.”

“Our state’s farming industry has taken a particular hit, with farmers reporting an added layer of uncertainty that makes planning and future investment challenging,” Hochul wrote.

Trump’s tariffs were challenged by a group of states, including New York and California, along with small business owners, who argued that the president exceeded his authority by imposing them.

In a 6-3 ruling the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — a 1970s law that the Trump administration invoked — doesn’t authorize the president to impose sweeping, open-ended tariffs.

In the ruling, the court’s majority didn’t spell out a process for refunds but the decision that Trump’s approach was “illegal” has opened the door to claims from importers that lost more than $133 billion in duties collected from the tariffs.

On Tuesday, Federal Express sued the federal government, seeking a “full refund” of the money the shipping giant paid for tariffs, in the first of likey many such legal challenges to recoup lost revenue. Other large corporations and labor unions filed lawsuits against the Trump administration seeking refunds before the Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs are illegal.

New York has joined several other states, including California, in demanding a full refund for consumers and businesses who saw higher costs as a result of the tariffs.

“Millions of New Yorkers are owed a refund for the real and widespread consequences of President Trump’s reckless and illegal tariff policy,” Hochul wrote in her letter. “Compensation is owed to the people of New York, and New Yorkers look forward to receiving our payout in full.”