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Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 17 other attorneys general in urging Congress to pass legislation that would require the government to provide refunds for extra costs paid by businesses and consumers due to President Trump’s tariffs.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Connecticut and a coalition of 11 other states and struck down tariffs the Trump administration imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Businesses and individuals nationwide have been charged approximately $166 billion in IEEPA tariffs.

Trump lamented the Supreme Court's decision and how it lacked guidance regarding the tariffs that had already been collected.

“They take months and months to write an opinion and they don’t even discuss that point,” he told reporters at the White House in February. “Wouldn’t you think they would have put one sentence in there saying that, ‘keep the money’ or ‘don’t keep the money,’ right? I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years.”

Trump has called the prospect of refunds a "complete mess" that could force repayment of "many hundreds of billions of dollars" (potentially trillions including related costs).

Meanwhile, Tong and the coalition are calling on Congress to pass new legislation that would require the Trump administration to reimburse importers for tariff charges -- with interest -- and encourage businesses that passed along direct tariff costs to consumers to reimburse their customers.

“Trump waged an unlawful economic war of choice on American families. We sued. We won. And now he needs to pay us back,” said Tong. “But the Trump Administration is concocting the most complicated and ridiculously burdensome process possible to ensure no one gets the refunds they are owed. We are asking Congress to step up and make sure this money is returned immediately to the businesses and families that paid these illegal taxes.”

In a letter to House and Senate leadership, AG "Tongfare" and the coalition are urging Congress to pass legislation requiring the administration to issue automatic tariff refunds as soon as possible. While the administration has indicated that importers would need to apply or sue for refunds, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has a database of every IEEPA tariff paid by American direct importers. CBP has stated that refunds will only be available via a new direct deposit platform.

The administration is complying with court orders to build a refund system for importers (e.g., a 4-step process via Customs and Border Protection, partially complete as of mid-March 2026), but Trump officials have noted delays, staffing issues, and that refunds go to importers first—not consumers directly.

Tong and the coalition are pushing for new legislation that could create an "equitable, uniform, and fast process for all affected importers to be reimbursed for their tariff costs."

In addition, Tong and the coalition urge Congress to "hold accountable the businesses that directly passed on tariff costs to consumers and other businesses. Importers that raised prices due to tariff costs should pass the benefit of the refunds they receive to those who ultimately bore the financial burden of the administration’s illegal tariffs."

The coalition also wants Congress to consider other ways to address the "economic burden that the most financially vulnerable had to bear because of the administration’s illegal policy. As the attorneys general assert, prices of cheaper products rose faster than prices of more expensive goods as a result of the tariffs, disproportionately impacting low-income consumers."

Joining Attorney General Tong in sending this letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

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