U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. EPA Yonhap News. 

If the U.S. Supreme Court rules that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were unlawful, the administration may have to refund some tariffs to companies, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on the 6th (local time).

In an interview with Fox News on the same day, Representative Tai said, "In some circumstances, certain plaintiffs will receive a refund of the tariffs," in response to a question assuming a government loss.

"We will likely have to figure out with the court what the refund schedule will be, what the rights of the parties are, and what rights the government has," she explained.

In the United States, companies can challenge tariffs paid to the government if they believe they were unlawful or there was an error, so if the Supreme Court rules the tariffs unconstitutional, it opens the door for companies to receive a refund.

Interest in refunds is growing, especially after several justices, including some conservative justices, expressed skepticism during oral arguments at the Supreme Court the previous day regarding President Trump's authority to impose tariffs using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

On Wall Street, financial firms began contacting companies heavily burdened by tariffs after lower courts ruled IEEPA tariffs illegal, proposing to buy their legal right to demand tariff refunds from the government.

If the Trump administration has to refund tariffs collected under the IEEPA, the amount is expected to exceed $100 billion (approximately 140 trillion won).

When asked about the amount of tariffs that would need to be refunded, Representative Tai replied, "The mutual tariffs in question (from yesterday's Supreme Court hearing) do not have an exact figure, but they are over $100 billion. I think it will be less than or around $200 billion."

The refund process is expected to be very complex, given the large amount of tariffs and the vast number of companies involved.

During the arguments the previous day, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appointed during Trump's first term, questioned the plaintiff's attorney about tariff refunds, saying, "I have a feeling this could become a mess."

In response, the attorney stated that only plaintiff companies participating in the lawsuit would automatically have the right to a refund, and companies that paid tariffs but did not file a lawsuit would have to challenge them through a separate administrative procedure.

"It's a very complicated matter," the attorney said, adding that the refund process could take a long time.

Yonhap News