The US Supreme Court building where the justices issued their opinion striking down President Donald Trump’s massive tariffs in Washington, DC, US. | Photo credit: Reuters
President JB Pritzker sent an invoice to US President Donald Trump on Friday (Feb. 21, 2026) demanding nearly $9 billion in tariff refunds for Illinois households after the Supreme Court ruled that the president’s much-touted levies were illegal.
By imposing emergency powers to impose tariffs that would restructure global trade and raise prices at home, Mr. After the justices ruled 6-3 that Trump had exceeded his authority, Mr. Pritzker urged the White House to “cut a check.”
“Your tariffs have wreaked havoc on farmers, angered our allies, and sent grocery prices through the roof,” the Democrat wrote, warning of further legal action if compensation is not forthcoming.
In a letter shared with the US media, Mr. Pritzker demanded about $1,700 per Illinois family — about what Yale University experts said the average US family would pay on last year’s tariffs.
Mr. Pritzker was not alone.
Earlier on Friday (February 20, 2026), California Governor Gavin Newsom said, Mr. Money from Trump’s tariff hikes came from the pockets of US voters — and must be paid back.
“It’s time to pay the piper, Donald. These tariffs are nothing more than an illegal cash grab that has driven up prices and hurt working families so you can destroy longstanding alliances and exploit them,” he said.
“Every dollar illegally taken must be returned immediately — with interest. Cough!”
Mr. Pritzker and Mr. Newsom are widely seen as potential Democratic contenders in the 2028 presidential race.
Whose money?
Their demands add populism to a complex legal and economic reality.
Announced to fanfare last April, Mr. Trump’s tariffs have collected more than $130 billion from importers, with a significant portion of that additional cost being passed on to consumers through higher prices.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant expressed doubt that ordinary Americans would see direct reparations.
The scale of potential repayments is vast. The influential Penn-Wharton budget model estimates the refunds will total $175 billion, but it’s unclear who will ultimately receive the money.
Mr Trump himself acknowledged that any refund process could take years.
It’s a tough change for those hoping for a tariff “dividend” check after the 79-year-old Republican repeatedly said last year that millions of Americans would get a “little rebate” because “we have a lot of money coming in.”
In his dissent, Trump-appointed conservative Justice Brett Kavanagh called Friday’s (Feb. 20, 2026) ruling “to say nothing today, and if it did, the government should return billions of dollars collected from importers.”
New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, called the Trump administration’s tariffs “an illegal backdoor tax on hard-working families, farmers and small businesses, raising prices on everything from groceries to building materials” — though she has not demanded refunds.
Published – February 21, 2026 10:17 am IST
