Ryan Knudson

In February, when the Supreme Court declared the lion's share of President Trump's tariffs illegal, the justices left one big question unanswered.

What did the Supreme Court say about tariff refunds?

That's my colleague Lydia Wheeler.

Ever since Trump's sweeping tariffs, companies big and small have altogether paid the government billions of dollars.

And now, a lot of them want their money back.

Is this like the most complicated refund in history?

Figuring out who gets refunds and how is a complicated job.

And that job has fallen to a little-known trade court and a little-known judge.

What's at stake here to get this right?

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Ryan Knudson.

It's Thursday, April 2nd.

Coming up on the show, why is it so hard to give businesses their tariff money back?

So introduce us to this little court that has to figure all this out.

The Court of International Trade isn't usually a very happening place.

Less than 300 cases were filed there each year in 2023 and 2024.

Until recently, one of the court's blockbuster cases focused on whether video doorbell cameras should be considered digital cameras or transmission devices.

Scintillating stuff.

But all that changed a year ago, when President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly every nation.

I can see that on a hat.