Robert Shapiro On Navigating Tariff Refund Challenges

In a recent Bloomberg Law article, Robert Shapiro, Chair of Thompson Coburn's International Trade and Regulatory Practice, highlighted how trade lawyers are advising clients to act quickly to secure potential refunds if the Supreme Court rules that a significant portion of President Donald Trump's tariffs were unlawful.

One possible avenue for recovering funds is through filing a protest after the payment has been liquidated. Companies could argue that the tariff should not have been paid because a court declared the policy invalid.

There's a legal wrinkle with using the protest mechanism, said Robert. It's designed to protest specific US Customs decisions on a given import—but in the case of a Supreme Court decision overturning the IEEPA tariffs, Customs wouldn't have made a decision.