A federal appeals court blocked the order requiring Customs and Border Protection chief Rodney Scott to testify at a Tuesday hearing on the white house tariff repayment strategy. Judge Richard Eaton had ordered Scott to appear at the Court of International Trade to discuss compliance with an order to deliver widespread tariff refunds.
The government has reported over $20 billion ordered in tariff refunds, and the hearing was meant to address how quickly that money must move. As of Monday morning, it was still unclear whether the hearing would go forward or whether a lower-level official would appear instead.
Richard Eaton and Rodney Scott
Scott's team objected to him being compelled to give live testimony. The appeals court issued a brief order late last week to block the order requiring him specifically to testify, narrowing the immediate testimony fight even as the refund case stayed on the court's calendar.
That leaves Judge Eaton's courtroom without the witness he had ordered in person. For the administration, the blocked appearance gives it a short-term reprieve while the court continues pressing on compliance with the refund order.
Tariff refunds and supply chains
Joyce Adetutu, an international trade lawyer at Vinson & Elkins, said in an interview this week, "One thing that [clients] just keep asking me is how the timeline for these tariffs interacts with these challenges and appeals," She also said, "We're really encouraging folks to look at their supply chains critically,"
Grace Zwemmer, a U.S. economist for Oxford Economics, wrote in a recent report that "A sizable number of exemptions means the effective tariff rate in most cases will rise only modestly," Oxford Economics projected that the overall effective U.S. tariff rate will rise to 9.7% from 9.3% currently.
May and late July
Government tariff revenues for May and trade deficit figures for April are expected this week, adding more data around the same time the refund dispute is active. Later this summer, new tariffs are expected under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and the Trump administration has announced plans for 10% to 12.5% tariffs on all major trading partners, citing forced labor issues.
Companies have already been shifting production to different countries to minimize tariff fluctuations. For importers and other affected businesses, the immediate question is not the broader legal fight but whether the Tuesday hearing happens with Scott absent or with someone else taking his place.
