By ; Ya Libnan, Op.Ed.
The Supreme Court has drawn a clear constitutional line. In a landmark ruling, it struck down large portions of President Trump’s tariff regime, reaffirming that the executive branch cannot impose sweeping economic taxes without congressional approval. The decision restored the rule of law.
But it did not restore the money.
That money came out of the pockets of American consumers.
For years, tariffs were sold as penalties paid by foreign governments. In reality, they functioned as a hidden domestic tax. Importers paid duties at the border, passed the costs down the supply chain, and consumers paid the final bill at grocery stores, hardware stores, car dealerships, and online checkouts. Prices rose quietly and persistently, hitting working and middle-class families hardest.
Now comes the injustice.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, companies that paid those tariffs are entitled to seek refunds from the U.S. Treasury. If approved, the money goes back to the importer — not to the consumers who actually paid the tax. There is no legal obligation to pass refunds along. No automatic price reductions. No restitution.
Absent congressional action, tariff refunds will become nothing more than corporate windfalls, while American households are left with higher costs and no recourse.
This is where Congress must act — decisively.
To put the issue in concrete terms, the government is estimated to be on the hook for approximately $180 billion in tariff refunds following the Supreme Court ruling. If Congress were to divide these refunds equitably — allocating half to importers and half to consumers — roughly $90 billion would be returned to the public. Spread across about 130 million U.S. households, that would amount to nearly $700 per household. This is not symbolic money. For millions of families, it would help offset years of higher grocery bills, higher appliance costs, and higher everyday prices caused by tariffs they never approved and never voted for.
Lawmakers should establish a National Consumer Restitution Fund, financed by a fixed percentage of all tariff revenues deemed refundable as a result of the Court’s ruling. Rather than attempting the impossible task of tracing individual purchases, Congress should adopt a fair, transparent formula that reflects economic reality: tariffs were collected nationwide, so refunds should be distributed nationwide.
Under this approach, the Treasury would issue a one-time direct payment to every American household, just as it successfully did during the pandemic. No income tests. No bureaucracy. No lobbying carve-outs. A simple acknowledgment that consumers paid a national tax — and deserve a national refund.
This solution is practical, fast, and just. It prevents refunded tariffs from being absorbed into corporate balance sheets. It avoids the fiction that prices will somehow roll backward on their own. And it restores trust by showing that unconstitutional policies cannot permanently extract wealth from the public without accountability.
This is not a partisan demand. It is a pro-consumer, pro-rule-of-law correction. If tariffs are ruled illegal, the government’s responsibility does not end at stopping their collection. It extends to repairing the harm as fairly as possible.
The Supreme Court enforced the Constitution. Now Congress must enforce economic justice.
Tariffs took money from American families. It’s time to give it back.
