Feds Prepare to Pay Billions in Tariff Refunds
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Importers who paid billions of dollars in tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down in February may soon start receiving refunds. U.S. Customs and Border Protection informed the Court of International Trade that it plans to launch the first phase of a new refund system on Monday, according to Reuters. The platform, known as CAPE, is intended to simplify the repayment process by sending each importer a single electronic payment, including interest when applicable, rather than issuing refunds for each individual shipment.
In a filing submitted Tuesday, CBP said that as of April 9 more than 56,000 importers had signed up to receive electronic refunds. Those claims total about $127 billion out of roughly $166 billion in tariffs paid by more than 330,000 importers across 53 million shipments.
The repayments come after the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority when he relied on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping global tariffs. A trade court judge ordered the administration last month to begin returning the money.
CBP stated that the CAPE system will first process more recent and straightforward claims while officials consider how to handle a more complicated portion of the refunds, estimated at about $2.9 billion. That segment could require extensive manual review. The Court of International Trade is supervising the rollout while other legal challenges continue over a separate temporary global tariff President Trump introduced using a different law.
Trade attorney Lizbeth Levinson told CBS News that CBP has been cooperative during the process but that the agency has made importers responsible for navigating the refund system.
She said the refunds are not automatic and that companies must complete several steps to receive their payments, even though CBP already has records showing who paid the tariffs and how to contact them. Levinson serves as co-chair of the international trade practice group at the law firm Fox Rothschild.
According to CBP, approved refunds should generally be issued within 60 to 90 days, although delays could occur if there are problems or inconsistencies in the submitted documentation.
Politico reports that some hedge funds have begun offering importers immediate cash in exchange for the right to collect the full refund later. In some cases, the funds are paying about 70 cents on the dollar for larger claims. People familiar with the strategy say it could generate significant profits for investors, but it also carries risk because President Trump could issue an executive order directing CBP to halt refund payments. One litigation financier said the situation remains highly uncertain and could unfold in many different ways.
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