(Removes line saying White House did not comment in paragraph 5)
By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday called on the Trump administration to issue $13.5 billion in tariff refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Last year, shortly after returning to the White House, Trump imposed varying tariffs on most of the world’s countries. The move, which Trump called “Liberation Day,” was met with legal challenges from businesses and some U.S. states.
Those tariffs, Hochul said, cost the average New York household an estimated $1,751 in added costs over the last year and harmed the state’s small businesses.
“These senseless and illegal tariffs were just a tax on New York consumers, small businesses and farmers, and that’s why I’m demanding a full refund” the governor said.
Hochul joins Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and California Governor Gavin Newsom who last week called on the Republican president to issue refunds following the Supreme Court ruling.
All three Democratic governors are considered contenders for the U.S. 2028 presidential election.
The White House dismissed the calls by the governors, saying they spent decades talking about issues that Trump was able to address.
“President Trump used tariffs to actually deliver where Democrats could only talk, so naturally Democrats are resorting to gathering more meaningless popcorn headlines – pathetic but unsurprising,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
Reuters reported last week that Penn Wharton Budget Model economists estimated more than $175 billion in U.S. tariff collections are subject to potential refunds.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the issue of tariff refunds would be addressed by the lower courts.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Nia Williams)
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