By Mike Scarcella and David Thomas
Feb 20 (Reuters) - After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump lacked authority to impose tariffs under a law meant for use in national emergencies, litigation is expected to turn to the U.S. Court of International Trade, where companies have already hired an army of lawyers to help them recoup their tariff losses.
Trade attorneys said the volume of cases seeking refunds for tariffs already imposed – more than 1,800 already – could surge
now that the justices rejected the legal rationale behind an estimated $175 billion in U.S. customs revenue since last April.
Trump at a White House press conference on Friday said he would levy more tariffs and predicted the process for companies seeking refunds would be a lengthy legal battle. “We’ll end up being in court for the next five years,” he said.
Washington law firm Crowell & Moring has filed at least 150 cases seeking refunds at the trade court since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement last April, according to a Reuters review of court records, bringing challenges for companies including warehouse-club operator Costco, cosmetics maker Revlon, and Ray-Ban eyeglass maker EssilorLuxottica.
Another large firm, Sidley Austin, has also appeared on more than 150 tariff lawsuits since April, representing J. Crew, Illumina, Dole, Diageo and others.
Spokespeople for Crowell and Sidley did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Smaller firms with dozens or more cases include Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt, a 40-lawyer trade firm that has filed more than 300 tariff lawsuits, representing companies including luxury fashion brands Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. Grunfeld partner Joseph Spraragen said clients are paying the firm a flat fee to initiate their cases.
Lawyers told Reuters they expect to file many more cases in the coming weeks at the New York-based Court of International Trade, where importers have two years to sue to claim a refund.
“The time to do it was yesterday. The next best time to file is today,” said Richard O’Neill of Neville Peterson, a 10-lawyer firm that has more than 100 lawsuits pending.
A key issue will be whether the trade court has power to issue nationwide rulings in refund litigation, said Julian Beach of law firm Pillsbury, which has more than a dozen ongoing cases. The Justice Department has said it will fight any move to grant nationwide injunctive relief, Beach said.
Even if the government agrees that refunds are owed for past imports, it’s not clear yet what the process will be, said trade lawyer Brian Janovitz of law firm DLA Piper, who also has clients seeking refunds. He said more lawsuits at the trade court are likely “because companies will want to preserve that avenue of seeking relief given the uncertainty."
If the fight over refunds does play out in the courts, it's likely to be contentious, said Pillsbury partner Nancy Fischer, nodding to Trump’s remark on Friday about expected litigation.
“It really depends on whether the administration decides to play hardball,” Fischer said. “It could get resolved quickly, if the parties were in agreement, but I am not so sure that necessarily is going to be the case.”
(Reporting by David Thomas and Mike Scarcella)
