Governor Newsom demands Trump issue tariff refund checks 'with interest,' calls IEEPA tariffs an 'illegal cash grab'

California Governor Gavin Newsom called on the Trump administration to issue immediate refund checks to Americans following the Supreme Court's ruling striking down IEEPA tariffs. Newsom stated: 'Time to pay the piper, Donald. These tariffs were nothing more than an illegal cash grab that drove up prices and hurt working families, so you could wreck longstanding alliances and extort them. Every dollar unlawfully taken must be refunded immediately--with interest. Cough up\!' Newsom's office cited a Yale Budget Lab report finding that Trump's tariffs cost the average American family $1,751 in 2025. The Supreme Court's ruling potentially exposed the federal government to as much as $170 billion in refund claims from importers who paid the now-illegal IEEPA tariffs, though the Court did not address the refund mechanism in its decision, leaving that question to lower courts. Companies including Costco, Toyota, Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Barnes & Noble, Logitech, Marathon Petroleum, Peloton, Crocs, and hundreds of others had already filed suit seeking refunds. The 'We Pay the Tariffs' business coalition called the ruling a 'tremendous victory.'

"Time to pay the piper, Donald. Every dollar unlawfully taken must be refunded immediately--with interest. Cough up!" — Governor Newsom statement demanding tariff refund checks following Supreme Court ruling, February 20, 2026