A US federal appeals court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s push to delay legal proceedings linked to tariff refunds, allowing the battle to proceed in a lower court.
The Supreme Court last month delivered a stinging rebuke of Trump’s signature economic policy by striking down his global tariffs — opening the door to a complicated legal fight as companies sue for their money back.
The tariffs ruled illegal had generated over $130 billion for the US government as of late-2025.
The Trump administration argued Friday for a delay of up to four months before litigation on refunds is brought up again at the US Court of International Trade.
But the demand was denied Monday in an order by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
A group of small businesses whose case is before the court said in an earlier filing Monday that the Trump administration’s call for a months-long delay was “plainly unreasonable.”
“This Court should not accept the government’s invitation to grant forms of relief the Supreme Court obviously found inappropriate,” they argued.
The Supreme Court decision does not impact Trump’s sector-specific duties.
Trump’s global tariffs have triggered a barrage of legal pushback.
The Liberty Justice Center, a group representing some of the small businesses challenging the tariffs, estimates that more than 900 claims seeking refunds have been filed in federal court.
These include claims by major firms like delivery and freight giant FedEx, which filed a suit last month, and warehouse retailer Costco, whose challenge came before the Supreme Court’s ruling.
