Tariff refunds will be slow

Customs and Border Protection will start taking some tariff refund claims on April 20, but many importers are being told the money will not arrive for 60 to 90 days. (cbp.gov; retaildive.com) The agency said April 20 is only the first phase of a new refund system called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, inside the Automated Commercial Environment trade portal. In that phase, only the importer of record or its customs broker can file, and only for certain International Emergency Economic Powers Act duty claims. (cbp.gov; cbp.gov) Retail Dive reported this month that Customs and Border Protection now expects refunds to take 60 to 90 days after a request is submitted, longer than the up-to-45-day timeline the agency described in a March court filing. Politico reported April 13 that some companies may wait months longer or miss the first batches entirely. (retaildive.com); retaildive.com; politico.com) The dispute centers on duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the national-emergency law the Trump administration used for a set of tariffs that courts later blocked or narrowed. Customs and Border Protection says CAPE is meant to handle valid refund claims authorized by court order or other law and to bundle duties and interest instead of processing each entry one by one. (cbp.gov; retaildive.com) That timing matters because importers already paid the duties when their goods cleared the border. A 60-to-90-day wait leaves cash tied up in government accounts even for companies with claims that appear legally viable. (politico.com; cbp.gov) Customs and Border Protection has said the new system is being built in steps because its existing platform was not set up to process these refunds at scale. The Automated Commercial Environment is the federal government’s main digital system for import and export filings, and CAPE is being added to it rather than replacing it. (cbp.gov; retaildive.com) The first wave is also narrower than many businesses expected. Bloomberg reported April 10 that the opening phase is aimed at relatively straightforward and recent entries, which leaves older or more complicated claims for later rounds. (bloomberg.com; cbp.gov) Retailers and consumer brands have been among the most active companies pressing for refunds after the tariff rulings. Retail Dive reported in February that brands including Allbirds and On were pursuing legal action as companies tried to recover duties paid during the trade fight. (retaildive.com) For now, April 20 looks less like a payout date than the start of a claims queue. Customs and Border Protection is opening the portal, not promising quick checks. (cbp.gov; politico.com)