AsianFin — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday he is “confident” that President Donald Trump’stariff plan will withstand scrutiny at the Supreme Court, but cautioned that the government could be forced to issue massive refunds if the justices ultimately rule against it.

“If the tariffs are struck down, we would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs, which would be terrible for the Treasury,” Bessent said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “But if the court says it, we’d have to do it.”

The remarks underscore the stakes of a legal battle that could reshape Trump’s sweeping trade policy. The administration last week formally petitioned the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling after an appeals court found that most of the tariffs on imports from foreign countries were illegal.

Ordinarily, the high court could wait until early summer 2026 to issue a final decision. But Bessent argued that such a delay would dramatically increase the risks for the Treasury.

“Delaying a ruling until June 2026 could result in a scenario in which $750 billion to $1 trillion in tariffs have already been collected, and unwinding them could cause significant disruption,” he said.