This is real money, but it’s less than 2 per cent of the projected 2026 federal government spending.Without any fanfare to match "Liberation Day", the political cost may be smaller still.The refunds involve a technical process and are dispersed among many importers, making them far less visible than the original tariff announcements.And concessions that trading partners, including the UK and the European Union, made under the threat of higher tariffs don’t automatically vanish when a tariff is struck down.For businesses, repaying money they should never have paid doesn’t recreate the position they were in before the tariffs.Importers had capital tied up for months as financing costs mounted, orders were cancelled, and inventory sat stranded Markets, on the other hand, react to them immediately.The Supreme Court ruling did not return lost customers, reverse commercial decisions or restore confidence in predictable trade rules.Tariffs can be refunded