US begins $166bn tariff refunds

The Trump administration has started taking claims for more than $166 billion in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court threw out key import duties. (cbp.gov, cbsnews.com) U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened the first phase of its CAPE refund system on April 20, 2026, inside the agency’s Automated Commercial Environment portal. The system is for duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. (content.govdelivery.com, cbp.gov) The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20, 2026, that IEEPA does not let a president impose tariffs. The decision wiped out Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and earlier duties tied to fentanyl and immigration orders involving China, Canada and Mexico. (supremecourt.gov, scotusblog.com) That left the government with a practical problem: how to return money already collected at the border from importers, customs brokers and sureties. Customs and Border Protection says CAPE is the agency’s tool for submitting and processing those refund requests. (cbp.gov, rsmus.com) Trump turned that administrative step into a political test on April 21, 2026, telling CNBC he would “remember” companies that do not ask for their money back. Reuters reported the remark the same day, and CNBC aired it from an interview on “Squawk Box.” (cnbc.com, usnews.com) The White House is also signaling that the court loss will not end Trump’s tariff push. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Mexican auto and steel executives they should not expect sector tariffs to disappear in talks over the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to four sources cited by Reuters. (money.usnews.com, srnnews.com) Those sector tariffs rest on a different law than the duties the Supreme Court struck down. Tax Foundation said the February ruling left Section 232 tariffs in place even as it erased the IEEPA tariffs that had raised more than $160 billion by the date of the decision. (taxfoundation.org, crsreports.congress.gov) The administration has already been building other legal routes for new import taxes. On March 11, 2026, Greer said the government was opening Section 301 investigations aimed at replacing the tariffs the court rejected. (cnbc.com, taxfoundation.org) For companies that paid the invalid duties, the immediate deadline is procedural, not political: file through the new customs portal and document the entries. For the administration, the message is that refunds have begun, but the tariff fight has not ended. (content.govdelivery.com, cbp.gov, money.usnews.com)