CEOs expect tariffs to stick

American executives are no longer treating tariffs as a short-term shock. In a PwC survey published this week, 86% said import duties are now a “permanent planning assumption.” (pwc.com) (finance.yahoo.com) PwC surveyed 633 United States executives last month, from C-suite leaders to board members, and found most expect tariffs to last beyond the current administration. The firm published the results on April 13, 2026. (pwc.com) (finance.yahoo.com) At the same time, the federal government is preparing to refund a huge pile of tariff money already collected. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its CAPE refund process for International Emergency Economic Powers Act duties will begin rolling out on April 20, after a court order to return roughly $165 billion to importers. (cbp.gov) (skadden.com) (msn.com) Those two developments are not a contradiction. The Supreme Court said on February 20, 2026, that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize tariffs, but the Trump administration has already moved to rebuild tariff authority through Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. (skadden.com) (ustr.gov) (cnbc.com) Section 301 is the trade law the United States uses to answer what it says are unfair foreign trade practices. On March 11, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer opened new Section 301 investigations covering China, the European Union, Mexico, Japan, India, Vietnam and other economies. (ustr.gov) (cnbc.com) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said tariff rates could climb back toward their earlier levels later this year. In March, he said on CNBC that he expected duties struck down by the court to return to old levels by August. (cnbc.com 1) (cnbc.com 2) That is one reason businesses are planning around tariffs instead of waiting for them to disappear. Rohit Kumar, a co-leader of PwC’s national tax office, said whatever tariff structure remains “is likely to stick around,” even if political control of the White House changes. (finance.yahoo.com) The survey also found companies are not simply freezing in place. Nine in 10 executives said their company is in a better position than two years ago, and 64% said they are ahead of the curve in responding to policy and geopolitical changes. (finance.yahoo.com) The refund process itself will not be simple. Skadden said more than 330,000 importers paid the invalidated duties across more than 53 million entries, and Customs is building CAPE inside the Automated Commercial Environment to process claims. (skadden.com) (cbp.gov) So the operating assumption in boardrooms has shifted: some tariffs are being unwound by court order, while a new set is already being built through a different law. For importers, April 20 is the start of refunds, not the end of tariff planning. (cbp.gov) (ustr.gov)