United States importers expect a forthcoming ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court could invalidate President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs and potentially lead to refunds for paid duties. Importers argue the tariffs were imposed without congressional approval when the administration introduced broad import duties by executive order on April 2 last year.
Legal challenges were escalated to the Supreme Court late last year, with a decision expected later this month when the court issues its next round of judgments. Despite speculation that the cases would fail due to Trump's prior judicial appointments, commentary following hearings in November suggested uncertainty around the outcome.
Nicola Swan, a litigation partner at Chapman Tripp in Wellington, said U.S. legal analysts noted scepticism among both conservative and liberal justices regarding the administration's arguments. Trump's legal team cited a "national emergency" linked to the U.S. trade deficit to justify the tariffs.
"Certainly that has been the take from most of the commentators – that the amount of questioning was significant and did indicate that the court was testing the administration's arguments," Swan said.
Swan cautioned exporters against assuming immediate relief even if the tariffs are struck down. "The really interesting question is what happens next and does it change anything." She added that the administration could rely on alternative legal mechanisms to maintain the tariff structure.
"Any practical resolution of this for NZ exporters is not on the short-term horizon because firstly you have to see what else the administration might do and whether that gets tied up in a further constitutional challenge like the current one," she said.
Refunds, if permitted, are also expected to take time. While the U.S. has a mechanism for reimbursing overpaid duties and several large New Zealand exporters operate U.S.-based importing entities, any repayment process would likely pass through lower courts.
"Even if there was an indication from the Supreme Court that they were expecting a consideration of some sort of refund process, that would likely have to go through a process in the lower courts," Swan said.
Zespri operates its own U.S. import business, while meat exporters Alliance, ANZCO, and Silver Fern Farms hold stakes in the Lamb Company in the U.S. Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake said importer-of-record status could simplify refund claims. "If it happens, then that is a bonus of being the importer of record, but we haven't really factored it in yet."
Source: FarmersWeekly
