$166B tariff refunds

The Trump administration plans to open a tariff-refund system on April 20 for importers owed about $166 billion after the Supreme Court voided the duties in February. (nbcnews.com) United States Customs and Border Protection said the first phase of the system, called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, is finished and will route eligible refunds through the agency’s Automated Commercial Environment portal. The agency said importers will get one electronic payment, with interest when applicable, instead of separate payments for each entry. (cbp.gov) A court filing said that by April 9, 56,497 importers had already completed steps needed for electronic refunds covering $127 billion. Customs estimates roughly 330,000 importers are affected overall. (nbcnews.com) The refunds stem from the Supreme Court’s February 20 ruling in *Learning Resources v. Trump*, which held 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not let a president impose tariffs. That decision wiped out the broad emergency tariffs Trump had announced in 2025. (supremecourt.gov) The court ruling did not end the tariff fight. Within hours, the White House invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a temporary import surcharge, and federal documents say that authority can run for no more than 150 days without Congress. (whitehouse.gov) Trump raised that Section 122 surcharge to 15 percent in February, the statutory maximum, and new lawsuits are already testing whether the replacement tariffs can survive. A hearing on that new tariff regime took place at the Court of International Trade on April 10. (federalregister.gov) (politico.com) Some businesses that expected relief after the Supreme Court ruling still face product-by-product uncertainty. USA Today reported that importers are still lobbying for or against possible new duties as the administration looks for other legal paths to keep pressure on trading partners. (usatoday.com) Agriculture remains exposed even with the refunds moving ahead. An American Enterprise Institute report said tariffs cut some farm and food imports only modestly, while United States agricultural exports to China and Canada fell in part because of retaliation and buyer reactions. (aei.org) The same report said trade deals announced after the 2025 tariffs still leave major gaps because product details are missing, China has kept retaliatory measures in place, and the Supreme Court struck down most of the original tariffs anyway. Congress’s research service separately said China and Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on a range of United States farm exports in 2025. (aei.org) (congress.gov) So April 20 is less an end to the trade war than an accounting deadline: Washington is starting to return money from one tariff program while defending and redesigning others in court and at the border. (nbcnews.com) (whitehouse.gov)