WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Treasury Department would be forced to issue rebates if the Supreme Court upholds a ruling that President Donald Trump's tariffs overstepped his executive authority, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

"We would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs, which would be terrible for the Treasury," Bessent said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

"If the court says it, we'd have to do it," he told anchor Kristen Welker.

However, Bessent seemed confident that the government would not lose the case.

“I am confident that we will win at the Supreme Court, but there are numerous other avenues that we can take," he said. Though they would diminish President Trump’s negotiating position.

A federal appeals court ruled in August that Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to declare fentanyl and America's trade deficits national emergencies did not justify putting tariffs on nearly all of America's trading partners.

The 7-4 ruling by the appeals court left the tariffs in place, at least temporarily, and came after states and small businesses sued, saying the tariffs were causing serious economic hardship.

The Trump administration responded by asking the Supreme Court justices to rule quickly on whether they will review the case and to schedule oral arguments for the first week of November.

That decision casts a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations that the President has been pursuing through tariffs over the past five months, jeopardizing both already negotiated framework deals and ongoing negotiations,” the Trump administration argued in its appeal. “The stakes in this case could not be higher.

Trump warned that America could sink into a "Great Depression" if a court curbs his tariff authority.

"If a Radical Left Court ruled against us at this late date, in an attempt to bring down or disturb the largest amount of money, wealth creation and influence the U.S.A. has ever seen, it would be impossible to ever recover, or pay back, these massive sums of money and honor," the president wrote on Truth Social. "It would be 1929 all over again, a GREAT DEPRESSION!"

As of August, tariff revenues topped $31 billion, bringing in $158 billion, which is more than double the revenue from this time last year, according to the White House.

A loss at the court would be a major setback for the White House, but for businesses upended by the president's trade policy, it could be the end of what's been an economically treacherous year.