Gregory Husisian Addresses Refund Timelines, Litigation Trends, and Ongoing Tariff-Related Costs
Foley & Lardner LLP partner Gregory Husisian shared insights across the media on the recent surge in tariff refund litigation, ongoing uncertainty surrounding timelines, and how companies and consumers may be affected by tariff repayments.
Husisian spoke with CBS News for the article, “Refunds for Illegal U.S. Tariffs Are Flowing to Businesses: Will Consumers Benefit?” discussing the prospects for consumer refunds. He clarified that most consumers are not positioned to claim direct refunds on goods bought at elevated prices due to tariffs.
Husisian explained, “Because they were told at the time, ‘This is how much the good costs, do you want it or not?’ they don’t have a claim.
In Bloomberg Law’s article, he explained the recent uptick in tariff refund litigation, noting that “as it became apparent that there was an advantage to being a litigant if you had finally liquidated entries, people started filing.”
However, Husisian cautioned that “even if you assume the U.S. government will lose, it could take a year” to resolve the ongoing legal dispute. As a result, he said, some companies opted to pursue refunds sooner rather than wait, helping fuel the current “mini-surge” in refund cases.
Husisian observed that importers have been pursuing tariff refund lawsuits since last winter, with many cases filed before and after the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the emergency powers tariffs, when “everyone didn’t know what was going on.”
Talking to the Milwaukee Business Journal, he highlighted that many businesses still face ongoing tariff costs. Husisian said, “A lot of people are saying they need it because they have to pay tariffs in future. The high tariff environment isn’t going away.”
He also added that some companies that imposed tariff surcharges during the IEEPA tariff period are now returning those funds to customers, either through direct rebates or alternative arrangements such as favorable long-term pricing. “Customers hold a strong position to demand rebates for those surcharges,” Husisian said.
Husisian’s commentary also appeared in MSN, Yahoo! News, and AOL.
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