On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariffs that convicted felon/sexual abuser/President Trump imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), declaring them illegal and ordering the tariffs the government has collected to be refunded to those forced to pay them.
So far the federal government has collected about $166 billion in illegal tariffs, and under U.S. customs rules, it’s mandatory for the government to pay interest on illegally collected tariffs.
But Trump is dragging his feet on repayment. Now Trump says it could take years to process the refunds, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the interest debt that is continuously growing on the un-refunded money. It’s also unlikely refunds will filter down to the consumer level since the government is prioritizing small businesses and large corporations for refunds, if the government even gets to making the refunds at all.
The federal government currently owes almost $700 million in interest every month it delays refunding the illegally-collected tariffs. That’s about $8.4 billion in interest annually that taxpayers will have to pay for as long as the amount is not paid back.
The government claimed it needed to root out “waste, fraud and abuse” when it stopped paying for health care and food assistance to millions of Americans, but now it appears the biggest single source of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds at the federal level is Trump himself and his illegal actions as President.