Tariff policy in flux
Washington’s tariff strategy is in flux after the Supreme Court limited emergency powers and the White House has shifted to alternate legal routes. The administration will launch a tariff‑refund system on April 20 and has imposed a new 15% global tariff under Section 122, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying tariffs could be fully restored by July. Businesses already see tariffs as a persistent risk — a PwC CEO survey found most expect import taxes to outlast this administration — and the administration has adjusted metal tariffs while the 25% car import levy from April 2025 continues to reshape automakers’ plans. (investing.com) (fortune.com) (startupfortune.com) (digitaldealer.com)
Washington is rebuilding its tariff system after the Supreme Court knocked out a big chunk of the old one, and the next step starts April 20. (cbp.gov) U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the first phase of its new refund tool, called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, will go live on Sunday, April 20, 2026, inside the Automated Commercial Environment portal. The agency said Phase 1 covers certain unliquidated entries and some entries within 80 days of liquidation. (cbp.gov) Reuters reported the refund system is meant to return about $166 billion in duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after the courts ruled against that tariff program. Customs said CAPE will combine eligible refunds, with interest, into one electronic payment instead of processing them one entry at a time. (yahoo.com) The White House did not leave the field empty after that court loss. Within hours of the February 20, 2026 ruling, the administration imposed a new global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that lets a president levy tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days without a full trade case. (beckerlawyers.com) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on April 14 that tariffs could return to their earlier levels by the beginning of July through Section 301 investigations, which are formal trade probes used to justify longer-lasting import taxes. Bloomberg reported Bessent made the remark at a Wall Street Journal event in Washington. (bloomberg.com) That leaves importers in two systems at once: one process to claw back old duties and another to prepare for new ones. Politico reported most companies still will not see immediate relief because the first refund phase is narrow and checks may take time. (politico.com) Business leaders are already planning as if tariffs will outlast this White House. Fortune, citing a PwC survey of 633 U.S. executives conducted in March, reported that 86% now treat tariffs as a permanent planning assumption. (fortune.com) The administration is also still rewriting tariffs on metals. Reuters reported on April 2 that President Donald Trump adjusted Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum and copper derivative products, cutting some rates even as a broader metal tariff structure stayed in place. (msn.com) Autos remain under the older 25% import levy that took effect on April 3, 2025. S&P Global said automakers responded with shipment pauses, inventory moves and production planning changes, and the industry has been waiting for more pricing and sourcing decisions ever since. (spglobal.com) So the immediate calendar is set: refund claims begin April 20, the stopgap Section 122 tariff runs toward a summer deadline, and July is the administration’s target for rebuilding a broader tariff wall. (cbp.gov)
