CBP clears $35.5B tariff refunds

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said on May 12 it had processed $35.46 billion in refunds, including interest, for tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after courts found the duties unlawful. The figure was disclosed in a filing at the U.S. Court of International Trade and reflects refunds finalized as of May 11. The agency is handling claims through a new Automated Commercial Environment tool called CAPE, short for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. The refund process follows a Feb. 20 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in *Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump* that said IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. ### Which tariffs are being refunded? The February 20 Supreme Court decision covered tariffs imposed under IEEPA, the 1977 emergency-powers law. Skadden said the ruling held that IEEPA does not confer authority to impose tariffs, and Holland & Knight said the Court of International Trade later ordered Customs to refund duties collected under that program. On March 4, Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade directed CBP to liquidate unliquidated entries without IEEPA tariffs and reliquidate certain non-final liquidated entries without them. (usnews.com) The Court of International Trade said that refund order applied to all importers, not only companies that had filed suit, according to Holland & Knight’s summary of the order. That widened the pool of companies able to seek repayment beyond the businesses that challenged the tariffs directly. ### How big is the refund pool right now? (skadden.com) Brandon Lord, a CBP official, told the trade court in a May 12 filing that the agency had received 126,237 refund applications by 7 a.m. ET on May 11. Reuters reported that CBP had validated 86,874 of those applications, covering 15.1 million entries eligible for refunds. Of those, 8.3 million shipments had been finalized for payment, with expected refunds and interest totaling $35.46 billion. (hklaw.com) Skadden said the broader universe is much larger. Its April analysis said the Court of International Trade had ordered CBP to refund about $165 billion in unlawfully collected IEEPA duties and that more than 330,000 importers had paid those duties across more than 53 million entries. ### How are importers supposed to claim the money? (usnews.com) CBP said importers of record and authorized customs brokers must submit claims through the ACE Secure Data Portal using the CAPE tool. The agency said CAPE is designed to consolidate IEEPA duty refunds, including interest, rather than process them entry by entry. CBP also said filers must provide bank account information for Automated Clearing House payments through the portal. (skadden.com) Norton Rose Fulbright said Phase 1 of CAPE began on April 20, 2026. The law firm said that first phase covers most unliquidated entries and entries up to 80 days past liquidation, along with some suspended, extended, under-review, warehouse and warehouse-withdrawal entries. ### Which claims are still outside Phase 1? (cbp.gov) CBP said Phase 1 does not cover several categories, including entries flagged for reconciliation, entries on drawback claims, entries covered by an open protest, entries not filed in ACE, and entries for which liquidation is final. Norton Rose Fulbright also said entries involving certain antidumping or countervailing duty instructions are excluded from the first phase. (nortonrosefulbright.com) That means some importers can file now while others still have to wait for later phases of the system. CBP said CAPE is being deployed in phases and that more functionality will be added for more complicated scenarios. ### When does cash actually reach companies? Reuters reported on May 12 that the Treasury Department had begun sending money back to importers this week. (nortonrosefulbright.com) CBP’s public guidance says approved refunds are paid electronically, and Hogan Lovells said last month that CBP expected approved IEEPA tariff refunds to be issued within 60 to 90 days after acceptance, absent compliance concerns. (cbp.gov) April 20 was the launch date for Phase 1 filings, and May 11 was the cutoff date for the $35.46 billion figure disclosed to the trade court. CBP’s IEEPA duty refunds page says importers and brokers should use the ACE Portal for CAPE declarations and ACH refund setup as the next phases roll out. (cbp.gov) (msn.com)