Tariff‑refund portal live

U.S. importers can start filing for tariff refunds on Monday, April 20, through a new Customs portal after courts struck down the duties. (cbp.gov) U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Phase 1 of the system, called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, went live on April 20 and is limited to certain unliquidated entries and some entries still within 80 days of liquidation. Filers must submit claims through the Automated Commercial Environment portal, not the older broker interface. (cbp.gov) The refund push follows a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling on February 20, 2026, in *Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump*, which held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not let a president impose tariffs. The duties had been imposed under that 1977 emergency-powers law. (supremecourt.gov) A month later, the U.S. Court of International Trade ordered Customs to refund the unlawfully collected duties in *Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States*. Skadden said the order covers about $165 billion, while Reuters, CNBC and other outlets put the figure at about $166 billion. (skadden.com, cnbc.com) Customs said more than 330,000 importers paid roughly $166 billion in duties across more than 53 million shipments. As of April 14, 56,497 importers had completed the registration needed to receive refunds totaling $127 billion, including interest. (cnbc.com) Customs said CAPE is built to issue one consolidated electronic payment, with interest when applicable, instead of refunding entries one by one. The agency said approved claims should be paid in 60 to 90 days. (cbp.gov, cnbc.com) The first phase does not cover every importer or every shipment. Covington said later phases or other administrative and judicial routes will still be needed for more complicated entries, and lawyers have warned that a single nonqualifying entry on a filing can trigger rejection of that line or the whole submission. (cov.com, cnbc.com) For finance teams, the refunds reopen old inventory costs and cash-flow assumptions. Because the money can arrive months after goods were imported and after some entries were already liquidated, companies now have to match refund timing, interest, and inventory accounting across periods that were already closed. (skadden.com, npr.org) The portal opening does not end the tariff fight. It starts the paperwork phase of returning one of the largest pools of unlawfully collected import duties in recent U.S. trade history. (nytimes.com, cbp.gov)