2d ago

Treasury Secretary Bessent warns of massive refunds if the Supreme Court voids Trump tariffs

www.cnbc.com

KEY POINTS

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is “confident” Donald Trump’s tariff plan “will win” at the Supreme Court, but warned the U.S. would be forced to issue massive refunds if it loses.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett noted that there are “other legal authorities” that the administration could use if the tariffs are blocked.

Before court action, Trump’s tariffs were set to affect nearly 70% of U.S. goods imports.

44 comments

and those refunds will go to the companies as extra profits, instead of to the people who had to pay them.
and retail prices will still stay inflated.
- ~~The only solution is revolution.~~ The only verdict is vengeance. A vendetta.
  FTFY.
  
  Jah
Bessent has warned that a delayed ruling "could result in a scenario in which $750 billion-$1 trillion in tariffs have already been collected."
"But, Your Honor. I've been running people over in my truck for a good three months now. If you ruled that running people over in my truck is illegal, why....there'd have to be considerable compensation paid!"
It's a novel argument.
- What phenomenal bullshit - There's no way they've collected that much, or even will by the end of the year. That's 20% of the Federal budget, or 3% of GDP, collected in the last 5 months of the year after whiplash, back and forth "we're doing it today, no, now we're waiting 2 weeks"?
  They're setting this all up for the largest theft ever committed on Earth.
  
  They need to get these clowns under oath more often.
  
  The largest theft ever committed on earth so far.
  We’ve still got another 3.3 (+ ?????) years of this idiocy.
- it's not a compelling argument for the likes of you or me, but for the poor ultra-wealthy and powerful of the world, it often makes the spark of compassion in a judge's heart flare brightly.
  
  The supreme Court will love it!
  Just like when everyone thought absolutely presidential immunity was a crazy idea. We all laughed at that little guy with the raspy voice making that crazy case to the supreme Court. They loved that shit!!
The chance that this Supreme Court is going to rule against Trump is not coincidentally exactly equal to the amount of integrity its conservarive members possess - zero.
This weak diversion isn't out there to try to sway their decision - their decision is a foregone conclusion. The point is just to provide a readymade rationale for some number of people, so they can excuse the Supreme Court's inevitable betrayal of law, precedent and the Constitution with "Well, they had to do that - imagine how much money blah blah blah..."
And besides, if money really was an issue, the administration could easily make up the shortfall simply by making billionaires pay something approaching their fair share of taxes.
- I mean, if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the tarrif then the market tanks and everyone gets to blame both. Absolute win!
  
  The financial hardship into which millions will be plunged is not something to giddily be looking forward to saying "I told you so" about.
- I said it once and I'll say it again. They will say that Congress must stop it.
  Then fuck off on their (checks notes) RV...? Now that was cheap!
SCOTUS won't rule against Trump.
Refunds won't go back to the buyers.
Ya'll are fucked.
- There's a possibility that the SCOTUS will say no further tariffs are legal but the ones in place had a pseudo-legally-valid status just by virtue of not yet being declared not-legal by the SCOTUS.
  
  👆 this guy weasels
  
  That's still #1
If this happens, businesses will get the money and we won’t see a dime of that refund. FUCK THE US GOVERNMENT!
- The main people who will get the money are the import brokers who have been leveraging their businesses against the tariffs with the expectation that the money will eventually be refunded.
  Americans have been protected against the largest impacts from the tariffs over the past 7 months by these loans. Things would have been MUCH worse when purchasing goods without this.
  As a result, if the refunds DON’T go through, all the importers will have to default on their loans, sending both the financial and import industries into a tailspin — PLUS everyone having to shoulder the full effects of the ongoing tariffs.
  
  I didn't realize this was happening. Where can I find out more about this?
  
  No offense, but this sounds like nonsense. I can't imagine any bank willing to take that kind of financial risk given the current context of things.
- It also doesn't fix the smaller businesses that had to shutter already.
  Hate them if you want, but it doesn't fix the 100+ rural Walmart locations shut down forcing some people to have to go an additional 20 miles and pay higher prices.
  Doesn't really matter which way it goes, the damage was the point and it succeeded.
  
  As always "The damage was the point" is giving Trump too much credit. He's not trying to hurt America. He's more interested in enriching himself than enriching his nation, for sure, but he also sees his fortunes as fundamentally tied to those of America and you can see that clearly in his statements and public actions going back long before his presidential ambitions.
  He wants America to be the greatest, most respected, most powerful country in the world, and he's doing what he thinks will achieve that.
  It's not malice; not towards America as a country, anyway. He's just genuinely, truly, that incompetent and so are the people around him, because he surrounds himself with people who make him feel smart.
  And before you bring it up, yes, he's a Russian asset. Of course he is. But he's not the kind of asset you give orders to. They don't need to. He's more than capable of doing all the damage they want without any direction.
  As another commenter here beautifully put it, "He's a fire and forget idiot."
The supreme Court is bought by the GOP, so they will find a way to side with his illegal tariffs.
Americans will continue to see prices skyrocket as our companies lay us off and then as we become homeless, they send us to their concentration camps they call "wellness camps"
Oh you spent 3 years gathering up enough shelter and supplies for a nice tent? Trump's gestapo throws it in a garbage truck and makes you watch before they take you to the camps.
We haven't even begun to talk about the effects of a global trade war and the fact many countries will simply stop providing us with supplies and materials as the US gets isolated.
The refund will have to go to China or Trump is proven a liar. 🤪
Forced to issue
Even if the tariffs are declared illegal (which they should be, because legal opinions of this nature should not, in fact, be swayed by the obvious negative short term consequences of canceling geoeconomic policies that people all over the world pointed out were very fucking stupid; and they won’t be, because the Tribunal of Six is bought and paid for), the orangeboi regime will almost certainly just fucking ignore the unfavorable ruling, since it’s kind of a shit-centerpiece of their shit-agenda.
massive refunds
So he means… a tax cut!?
Then he shouldn't have fuckin' done it then.
We all know which way this will go.
Make no mistake, this is simply a warning from the government to the supreme court.
Imagine however if the court would use this case as a test, to see whether or not they still have any influence at all in the separation of powers.
If this money is refunded, where would it go? It won't come back to consumers. It probably won't be spent on investments due to the uncertain economic climate. I think it would either disappear from the economy by getting locked "on the sidelines" or be pumped in the asset markets, US or foreign.
Too bad they're not personally liable.
Should’ve thought about that dumbass
Is he trying to get ahead of Trump just ignoring a ruling?
This feels like a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing.
If the Supreme Court sides with Trump, many companies will support the Union if America has a 2nd American Civil War. Let's see the supposed wisdom of this court.

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