Victor Schwartz, the CEO of VOS Selections, a wine importer, just got a $110,000 check from the U.S. government. It's a refund for tariffs he paid under President Donald Trump's now-invalidated IEEPA tariffs — and it's a sign that the payout machine is finally turning on.

The Treasury Department has begun refunding importers who were hit by those tariffs, following a Supreme Court ruling that struck them down. Schwartz was one of the small business owners who challenged the tariffs all the way to the high court and won. A spokesperson for his legal team told The Hill that the refund had arrived, confirming that the money is “absolutely starting to flow.”

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had said refunds would start this week for approved applicants. On Tuesday, the agency told a federal judge that the first batch of refunds had been approved and sent to Treasury for payment. So far, CBP is processing $35.46 billion in refunds. But that number is expected to grow — the government collected an estimated $166 billion in deposits that must now be repaid, plus interest.

Trump Blasts Tariff Ruling

This all stems from the Supreme Court's decision to invalidate Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs. Trump hasn't taken it well. On Sunday, he blasted the ruling, specifically calling out Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — both of whom he appointed — for their votes. He claimed the decision would cost the U.S. $159 billion in repayments and suggested the whole mess could have been avoided with a “tiny” sentence in the law stating that “any money paid by others to the United States does not have to be paid back.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been scrambling to find a new legal basis for the tariffs. It tried to overturn a federal trade court ruling that challenged the 10% import duties, and then invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose replacement tariffs through an alternative mechanism. Those new tariffs are set to expire on July 24 unless Congress extends them. This ruling was the second major judicial rebuke to Trump's tariff policies in recent months.

For importers like Schwartz, the refunds are a welcome relief. But with $166 billion in total deposits to repay, the process is just getting started.