U.S. to open $166bn tariff refunds
The U.S. plans to open a refund system on April 20 for importers seeking repayment of $166 billion in tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down, beginning a large claims‑processing exercise for businesses that already paid duties. At the same time the administration is tweaking other metal tariffs—lowering rates for some derivative goods—while a 25% tariff on all imported cars remains in place, showing the policy is being selectively adjusted rather than rolled back. (reuters.com) (digitaldealer.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to open its tariff refund system on April 20, starting repayments on duties the Supreme Court threw out in February. (cbp.gov) (money.usnews.com) The new system is called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, and it will run inside the agency’s Automated Commercial Environment trade portal. Customs said Phase 1 will start at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time on April 20. (cbp.gov) (cbh.com) The refunds cover about $166 billion in tariff payments and deposits tied to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law the court said did not authorize these import duties. Court filings say more than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs on about 53 million entries. (money.usnews.com) (cbh.com) CAPE is built to send one electronic refund, with interest when applicable, instead of handling each shipment one by one. Customs said Phase 1 is limited to certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation. (cbp.gov) (money.usnews.com) Importers or their customs brokers must use an Automated Commercial Environment portal account, upload bank information, and file a CAPE declaration as a comma-separated values file. Each declaration can include up to 9,999 entries, and filers can submit more than one declaration. (cbp.gov) As of April 9, 56,497 importers had already completed the setup needed to receive electronic refunds, covering $127 billion of the affected tariffs. Customs said accepted claims are expected to be paid in 60 to 90 days. (money.usnews.com) (cbh.com) The refund rollout follows a Supreme Court ruling that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by imposing the now-voided tariffs under emergency powers. After that ruling, importers sued in the Court of International Trade to recover what they had paid, and that court has been supervising the refund process. (money.usnews.com) At the same time, the administration is not unwinding tariffs across the board. On April 2, Trump changed the separate national-security tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper so that many derivative products now face 25% duties on full customs value, while many core metal products remain at 50%. (federalregister.gov) (usnews.com) The 25% tariff on imported cars also remains in effect after taking hold on April 3, and industry trackers say it has already pushed up costs across the auto market. Digital Dealer reported the tariffs added $30 billion in costs in 2025 and raised average vehicle sticker prices by 10.4%. (digitaldealer.com) For businesses, April 20 is less a policy reversal than the start of a paperwork race. Customs still has to process a refund pool measured in the hundreds of billions while other tariffs stay in place under different legal authorities. (cbp.gov) (money.usnews.com)
