Tariff refund portal opens
The administration will open a tariff-refund portal on April 20 so businesses can seek reimbursement for duties the Supreme Court struck down, offering a temporary route to recover costs. At the same time, a senior official warned that tariffs could be reinstated as soon as July under alternative trade-law authorities, leaving importers with continued policy uncertainty. (cbsnews.com) (foxnews.com)
Businesses that paid now-invalid Trump tariffs will get a federal refund portal on April 20, but the tariffs could return by July under a different law. (cbp.gov) (finance.yahoo.com) U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the first phase of its CAPE system opens April 20, 2026, for claims tied to duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Phase 1 covers certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation. (cbp.gov) Importers of record and authorized customs brokers must file through the Automated Commercial Environment portal, upload a comma-separated values file listing eligible entries, and provide bank account information for refunds. Each CAPE declaration can include up to 9,999 entries, and filers can submit more than one declaration. (cbp.gov 1) (cbp.gov 2) The refunds are not automatic. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said CAPE is meant to process valid claims, and trade lawyers told CBS News that importers still have to opt in and clear procedural hurdles before any money is paid. (cbp.gov) (cbsnews.com) The refund fight started after the Supreme Court ruled in February that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize the president to impose those tariffs. On February 20, the White House then ended the affected International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariff actions and said the duties would no longer be collected as soon as practicable. (cbsnews.com) (whitehouse.gov) The potential bill is large. CBS News reported the government could owe businesses up to $175 billion, and companies have already filed thousands of cases in the Court of International Trade seeking refunds. (cbsnews.com) At the same time, the administration has already moved to a backup tariff tool. On February 20, President Donald Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a temporary import surcharge tied to what the proclamation called “fundamental international payments problems.” (whitehouse.gov) (federalregister.gov) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on April 14 that tariffs could be back “at the previous level” by the beginning of July through Section 301 investigations. He said that at a Wall Street Journal event in Washington after calling the Supreme Court ruling a setback for tariff policy. (finance.yahoo.com) That leaves importers in two systems at once: one to recover old duties, another to plan for new ones. The portal opens on April 20, but the legal and pricing uncertainty around U.S. tariffs is still running into the summer. (cbp.gov) (finance.yahoo.com)
