About those ‘liberation day tariffs’ you may have paid, they can be refunded
Incoterms. No one ever thinks about them, but if you had exported to the USA under the Deliver Duty Paid (DDP) incoterms and paid the “Liberation Day” tariffs, Christmas has come early for you.
On 4 March 2026, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued a pivotal order in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States that signals a “green light” for importers to reclaim their funds (you’d be in the importer of record if you used DDP).
As we discussed in our previous analysis, the Supreme Court (Scotus) ruled that the global tariffs imposed by President Trump were invalid. Unfortunately, the court did not decide on the tariffs already paid and remanded the matter to a lower court. This left millions of entries caught in a legal limbo.
The CIT ruling addresses this problem.
The new CIT order addresses three critical questions for importers:
Who is entitled to a refund? The court was explicit: “All importers of record whose entries were subject to IEEPA duties are entitled to the benefit of the Learning Resources decision”. This confirms that the illegality of the tariffs applies broadly to all who paid them, not just the specific parties in the Scotus case.
Which court can hear refund cases? Judge Eaton of the CIT will be the sole judge hearing these IEEPA refund cases. This move by the Chief Judge is designed to prevent conflicting rulings and ensure the “efficient administration of justice”. It ensures that even importers who have not yet filed suit can eventually benefit from the legal precedent set by Scotus.
What does this all mean for refunds? The court has directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to:
Calculate and assess the duties without the IEEPA duties on import shipments for which CBP has not yet made a final determination of the duties, taxes, and fees owed.
Go back and recalculate the costs to remove the IEEPA duties and issue a refund for those imports where the duty was calculated, but a challenge of them was still possible, as the duty calculation has not expired.
What does it mean for you?
While the Trump administration has already pivoted to “temporary” tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to bypass the Scotus ruling, the CIT’s order in Atmus Filtration provides a concrete mechanism for recovering the billions paid under the now-defunct IEEPA regime, i.e., those liberation day tariffs.
If your business has products subject to these duties, the path to refunds is finally clear.