Trump says he will 'remember' any company that doesn't request tariff refund

President Trump said Tuesday it would be “brilliant” if U.S. companies do not seek refunds from the tariffs he imposed that were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Trump, on a phone interview with CNBC, was asked about large companies like Apple and Amazon, which have not filed refund requests for the tariffs they paid and whether it was because the companies were worried about offending him.

“I think it’s brilliant if they don’t do that,” Trump said. “Actually, if they don’t do that, they’ve got to know me very well. I’m very honored by what you just said.”

“If they don’t do that, I’ll remember them,” he said.

His comments come after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) opened a portal, called CAPE, to process refunds for importers and brokers who paid tariffs.

In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court said in February that the Trump administration overstepped in its use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act when imposing tariffs on nearly every country.

The high court, however, did not provide guidance on how to handle the refunds.

CBP said that over 330,000 importers paid tariffs that totaled roughly $166 billion.

Trump continued his complaints of the Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday, calling the ruling “a little setback.”

“Because of what they did, we have to pay back $160 billion,” he said. “All they had to do is add one sentence, just one sentence, and that’s, ‘You don’t have to pay anything taken in thus far, back.’”

“So, I’m not happy with the Supreme Court. I’ll be honest with you,” he added.

For refunds, companies must submit declarations of all the goods they were charged import taxes on.

CPB said the refunds may take 60-90 days to be reviewed and processed, and for the most part, will be issued electronically.

The first wave of claims will prioritize customs entries liquidated or finalized within the preceding 80 days, according to reports.