The US Customs and Border Protection Agency announced that it will stop collecting counterpart tariffs previously applied under the International Emergency Economic Act (IEEPA) from 0:01 AM on February 24 US Eastern time (12:01 AM Vietnam time) after the US Supreme Court declared these tariffs illegal.
The move comes amid the White House simultaneously imposing a new global tax of 15% under Article 122, raising concerns about hundreds of billions of USD in tax refunds.
Notices from the US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) have been sent to shipping lines and businesses via the cargo service messaging system (CSMS).
According to the published content, CBP will invalidate the entire tax code related to previous US President Donald Trump's decrees based on IEEPA. This decision was made more than 3 days after the US Supreme Court ruled that the above tariffs were illegal.
Notably, CBP did not explain why it continued to collect taxes at border gates for many days after the ruling was announced. The notice also did not mention the possibility of tax refunds for importers who had paid taxes under the rejected mechanism.
The tax suspension according to IEEPA takes place at the same time as President Donald Trump's new move: Imposing a global tax rate of 15% based on Article 122 to replace the tax rates just rejected by the court. This shows that the administration still maintains a tough stance on trade, despite legal failures.
CBP emphasized that the cessation of tax collection under IEEPA does not affect other taxes that Mr. Trump has issued, including taxes under Article 232 for national security reasons and taxes under Article 301 related to unfair trade practices. The agency said it will continue to provide additional guidance to the business community through CSMS notifications when necessary.
Previously, an estimate by a group of experts from the Penn-Wharton budget model said that the Supreme Court's ruling could put more than 175 billion USD of US budget revenue from IEEPA-based taxes at risk of repayment.
According to calculations from the detailed forecast model, these tariffs have generated more than $500 million in gross revenue per day for the US Treasury.
The above figure shows the huge financial scale involved in this legal dispute. If importers request a refund and it is approved, the US government may have to handle one of the largest tax refunds in modern history.
In that context, the market and the business community are closely monitoring the next guidelines from CBP, especially on the mechanism for handling fees collected before the suspension of application.
Replacing IEEPA tax with a new global tax also raises questions about the impact on supply chains, prices and international trade relations in the coming time.
