THOMPSON COBURN TRADE ALERT – IMPORTS
HEADLINE	Supreme Court Issues Ruling on IEEPA Tariffs
DATE	February 20, 2026
AGENCY	Supreme Court of the United States; Court of International Trade; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Department of Commerce
EFFECTIVE DATES	N/A
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY	• SCOTUS Ruling. The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) struck down all IEEPA tariffs as illegal. The ruling did not establish a specific remedy or discuss refunds. • Refunds. The SCOTUS Decision did not address refunds. We anticipate the litigants in the case will return to lower courts to pursue further remedy. • Payment of Tariffs on Current Entries – The SCOTUS Decision does not authorize the immediate cessation of the payment of the tariffs on current entries. But, the Administration has published a Proclamation revoking the IEEPA executive orders. We anticipate seeing Federal Register notices from relevant agencies, and that CBP will publish further instructions via CSMS shortly. • Replacement Tariffs. The Administration has promised to impose 10% across-the-board tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 as a response. These are limited to 150 days’ duration. Other potential tariffs under Section 301 have been threatened.   Please Note: None of these actions directly affect existing Section 232 tariffs (steel/aluminum/auto parts, etc.) or the Section 301 tariffs.
BACKGROUND	On May 28, 2025, the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) issued a summary judgment ruling in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump determining the IEEPA statute does not authorize the imposition of tariffs. It ordered that the Executive Orders be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed the order pending appeal, and issued an opinion on August 29, 2025 affirming the CIT’s ruling, which was also stayed pending appeal. The government appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, with oral arguments held on November 5, 2025.   The Supreme Court consolidated V.O.S. Selections with Learning Resources, Inc., v. Trump, another case before the Court challenging the IEEPA tariffs which originated in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.   Separately, in an attempt to preserve their right to recover IEEPA duties should the Supreme Court find the tariffs unlawful, a number of importers have filed actions at the Court of International Trade, which have been consolidated under the lead case AGS Company Automative Solutions. On December 15, 2025, the CIT declined to issue an injunction to suspend liquidation of entries subject to IEEPA tariffs. The government indicated in this litigation that it would not oppose court-ordered reliquidation of entries (in order to obtain a refund) in the event of an adverse ruling at the Supreme Court related to IEEPA tariffs.
DETAILS	The Supreme Court issued its opinion in V.O.S. Selections, the consolidated case challenging Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, on February 20, 2026. It determined that IEEPA does not confer authority to the President to impose tariffs, and affirmed the lower court decision vacating the executive orders.   IMPACTED PARTIES: • Any importer who paid an IEEPA-related tariff is potentially impacted by the decision, but it is not yet clear whether, when, and how importers will need to act in order to recover duties already paid, and whether the process will be different for entries that have already liquidated. • Specific IEEPA tariffs affected: – Canada – Mexico – China – Brazil – India – Reciprocal Tariffs • The Administration also issued a Proclamation on February 20, 2026, “ending certain tariff actions,” directing the heads of agencies to take steps “as soon as practicable” to end the IEEPA tariffs and the collection of IEEPA duties.   REMEDY: • The SCOTUS ruling does not specify a remedy, it merely affirms a lower court ruling. That lower court ruling found, as a matter of law, that the IEEPA tariffs were illegal and imposed a permanent injunction on their collection, but did not address the refund of duties already collected. • It is possible importers will be required to file an action at the Court of International Trade, administrative protests with CBP via ACE, and/or Post-Summary Corrections in order to recover duties. – Litigation before the CIT may also be required, either to reliquidate already liquidated entries or to order the refund of duties already paid. – Protests (a formal challenge to a CBP decision or liquidation of an entry) can be filed up to 180 days after liquidation via CBP’s ACE platform. – Post Summary Corrections (which allow importers to modify their entry summary data) can be filed by a broker within 300 days of the entry date, provided the entry is not in a liquidated or pending liquidation status.   REPLACEMENT TARIFF: • The Administration has issued a Proclamation imposing a 10% across-the-board tariff (with limited exceptions) via Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2132), effective February 24, 2026, through July 24, 2026, unless extended or modified by an Act of Congress. This mechanism authorizes the President to impose temporary import quotas or tariffs (across the board) of up to 15%, for a maximum of 150 days, in order to address “large and serious” balance-of-payment surpluses with the United States. • This new tariff will not apply to USMCA-qualifying articles, those articles already subject (or which will later become subject) to 232 duties, and other limited categories of articles specified in Annex 1 and Annex 2 to the Proclamation. These exceptions mirror many of the exceptions from the previous IEEPA tariffs.   NEXT STEPS: • Although specific requirements for obtaining a refund of IEEPA duties are not yet clear, importers will likely need to establish an account on CBP’s ACE portal and an ACH refund account. • Importers may also wish to file actions at the Court of International Trade or administrative protests to preserve rights to recover duties. • Post-Summary Corrections (PSC) may be an additional avenue for recovery, but it may be premature absent further guidance from CBP. • We additionally anticipate guidance to be issued by CBP via CSMS, addressing how the agency plans to handle PSCs, liquidations and/or protests moving forward.   Over the next several days and weeks, further litigation, court orders, and communications from the government will be necessary to determine the refund and remedy process.   Continue to watch this space for further developments about this story and contact us with any questions about the impact on your business.
BASIS	International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.); 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i).
CITE	Supreme Court decision: affirmed: Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., 607 U.S. ___, case No. 25–250 (2026); vacated and remanded: Learning Resources v. Trump, 607 U. S. ___ (2026), case No. 24–1287.   CIT Order re: pending IEEPA cases (Dec. 15, 2025): AGS Co. Auto. Sol. v. United States, Consol. Court No. 25-00255 (Ct. Int’l Trade, Dec. 15, 2025).   Federal Court of Appeals decision (Aug. 29, 2025): V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States, 149 F.4th 1312 (Fed. Cir. 2025), cert. granted, No. 25-250 (U.S. Sept. 9, 2025).   Section 122 Proclamation: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/02/imposing-a-temporary-import-surcharge-to-address-fundamental-international-payments-problems/

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