The Tariff Refund Saga Unfolds in Court

US customs and border protection ordered to pay $166 billion 

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) had been the main justification for tariff collection. According to the court, its use has not been valid, citing broken technology, insufficient staff, and the fact that its systems are not built to process 53 million individual import entries at once. After this decision, the court ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to refund the $166 billion it had collected. 

On March 4, Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton ordered CBP to halt all further liquidation of IEEPA duties and begin unwinding those already assessed — notably indicating that relief should extend to all 330,000+ importers of record. On March 6, CBP told the court it could not comply with the order.

CBP’s filing warned that processing the refunds using its existing Automated Commercial Environment system would require manual work. The burden would make staff pull from national security and trade enforcement duties. The agency instead proposed a 45-day window to build new ACE functionality that would streamline and consolidate refunds on a per-importer basis. On March 6, Judge Eaton partially suspended his immediate compliance order to allow time for CBP’s declaration to be considered.

The government is expected to appeal the refund order, challenging whether the CIT has authority to grant relief to parties not before the court — an argument that draws on the Supreme Court’s recent CASA decision limiting nationwide injunctions. Critically, the order does not address “finally liquidated” entries — those past the 180-day protest window — leaving an unknown portion of the $166 billion potentially unrecoverable through the CIT process.

The Supreme Court’s decision formally becomes final on March 17 — meaning the refund clock, the appeal window, and the CBP’s 45-day build timeline are all converging in the same narrow week, making this the most operationally live regulatory story of the month.

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Further reading: Trump tariffs: Customs and Border Protection tells judge it can’t comply with refund order

The European Parliament in favour of AI copyright

The European Parliament voted by a large majority — 460 in favour, 71 against, 88 abstentions — to urge the Commission to extend EU copyright law to all generative AI systems operating on the EU market, regardless of where those systems were trained. That last clause is a crucial detail that additionally enforces the rules on US-based AI labs.

AI providers would be required to submit a detailed, analytical list of all copyright-protected content used in training. Any provider that fails to meet the requirements will be treated as having used protected works without authorisation. Consequently, they will cover all legal costs if rights holders can prove the violation. The Intellectual Property Office would serve as a central ruling body. The proposal suggests that the office manage registers, allow creators to exclude their works from AI training, and support the creation of a sector-based licensing market.

If the resolution is successful and turns into a legislative process, it would protect eight million people in creative and cultural sectors. On the other hand, as the EU tries to cut the regulatory burden to boost its competitiveness, the enforcement of the proposal is far from guaranteed.

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Further reading: Copyright and generative AI: Strasbourg calls for fair remuneration and legal certainty

UK launches zero carbon standard for buildings

The UK regulators have launched a framework for a cross-industry definition of a genuine net-zero carbon building. It is the first benchmark for the property sector that can verify carbon claims. The era of calling a construction project net zero without rigorous checks is over. More than 350 experts contributed to the technical design of the standard, along with 3,000 public comments, supported by organisations including BRE, CIBSE, IStructE, LETI, RIBA, RICS, and UKGBC. A pilot programme tested the methodology across more than 200 building projects.

The regulation is long-awaited by climate advisors and long-feared by developers. A period of silence had allowed greenwashing to flourish in one of the most emissions-intensive sectors in the country. Unlike earlier sustainability labels, the new standard incorporates both operational and embodied carbon emissions. Operational emissions refer to the carbon produced during a building’s construction. Embodied emissions capture the upstream climate impact of construction materials, manufacturing processes, transportation, and building assembly. With the new regulation in place, ministers will finalise long-delayed Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards this year.

Certification will only be accessible once buildings are completed, occupied, and operating. This measure will prevent developers from making early claims based only on design intent. However, the standard is voluntary — there is no legal obligation to comply, and no penalty for ignoring it. Until the UK government binds it into planning law or mortgage lending criteria, adoption depends entirely on market pressure and investor appetite, neither of which is guaranteed in a cost-constrained construction sector, which accounts for around 40% of the nation’s emissions.

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Further reading: UK Launches Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard To Define Credible Climate Claims Across Property Sector

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The EU reverses its stance on nuclear power

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris that Europe had made a strategic mistake by opposing nuclear energy. The new formal EU-wide Small Modular Reactor (SMR) strategy backs the statement. It aims to support nuclear power amidst conflict in Iran, which led to oil price increases.

Nuclear power accounted for roughly one-third of Europe’s electricity in 1990; today it is closer to 15%. The conflict in Iran turned this fact into a serious issue. The Strait of Hormuz closure has triggered a supply shortage on which Europe depends. As a result, Europe’s need for fossil fuels puts it at a competitive disadvantage.

The strategy rests on three pillars: simplified cross-border regulation via regulatory sandboxes, mobilisation of private investment through a new €200 million guarantee funded by the EU Emissions Trading System, and a target to have SMR technology operational in Europe by the early 2030s. However, for now, the plan is an aspiration, not a contractually binding operation. Von der Leyen framed nuclear and renewables as complements, not competitors. Renewables deliver the lowest-cost power but are weather-dependent, while nuclear can provide reliable, round-the-clock generation.

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Further reading: Boosting EU’s energy independence and lowering costs

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: william william