Tariff‑refund system readies $166B

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it will open a tariff-refund portal on April 20 for importers seeking back duties collected under a law the Supreme Court said did not authorize those tariffs. (cbp.gov) The agency calls the system Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, and says it will run inside the Automated Commercial Environment trade portal. Phase 1 covers certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation. (cbp.gov) Customs and Border Protection says CAPE will combine eligible claims into one refund with interest when applicable, instead of paying entry by entry. Importers of record and authorized customs brokers must upload a comma-separated values file through the portal, and each filing can list up to 9,999 entries. (cbp.gov) The money at issue is huge: court filings cited by multiple outlets say more than 330,000 importers paid the disputed tariffs on 53 million shipments. Reuters-based reports carried by U.S. News and other outlets put the total potential refunds at about $166 billion. (usnews.com, newsnationnow.com) The refunds stem from duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 statute usually used for national emergencies. Customs and Border Protection says CAPE is being built specifically to process valid refund requests for those International Emergency Economic Powers Act duties when a court order or other law authorizes repayment. (cbp.gov) The agency has been moving all customs refunds into electronic payments this year. A January 2 interim final rule said Customs and Border Protection would issue refunds electronically, with the rule taking effect on February 6. (federalregister.gov) That shift means companies need bank details on file before money can move. Customs and Border Protection says firms that may be eligible should set up an Automated Commercial Environment portal account and authorize Automated Clearing House refunds to avoid rejected payments. (cbp.gov) The first phase will not cover every claim at once. Customs and Border Protection says later phases will add more complicated scenarios, while current guidance limits the launch to recently imported goods and more straightforward entries. (cbp.gov, newsnationnow.com) Lawyers told CBS News the refunds will not arrive automatically and that businesses still have to opt in, document claims and wait for agency review. CBS also reported that consumers who paid higher prices because of tariffs are not the parties eligible to file; the importer of record is. (cbsnews.com) For now, April 20 is the date importers have been waiting for: not the end of the tariff fight, but the start of the claims process that will determine how quickly those billions actually get paid out. (cbp.gov, cbsnews.com)