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The United States government has already collected tens of billions of dollars from President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs.”

But that money could end up being refunded if the Supreme Court agrees with lower courts that many of the levies on imports from other countries are illegal.

Bessent’s request to have the Supreme Court quickly rule the tariffs are legal, and not wait until next summer, the normal time frame for such a decision.

The sooner the court rules, the less money the government could be required to refund if a majority of justices find the tariffs to be illegal.

Refunding tariffs is not an unprecedented situation for the U.S. government. But the amount of tariffs the Trump administration could be forced to refund is.