Tariff refund system set

The federal government plans to open a tariff refund portal on April 20 after the Supreme Court struck down the duties in February. (cbp.gov) U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the first phase of its new CAPE system will let importers and customs brokers file refund claims through the Automated Commercial Environment portal by uploading a spreadsheet of entry numbers. Each filing can cover up to 9,999 entries. (cbp.gov) The Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026, in *Learning Resources v. Trump* that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize a president to impose tariffs. The case covered Trump’s 25% duties on most Canadian and Mexican imports, 10% duties on most Chinese imports, and a global tariff floor of at least 10% on imports from all trading partners. (supremecourt.gov) A second court order on March 4 widened the effect of that ruling. Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade said “all importers of record” that paid those duties are entitled to the benefit of the Supreme Court decision, not just the companies that sued. (sullcrom.com) That turned a legal win for a handful of plaintiffs into an operational problem for Customs. The agency told the trade court this week that Phase 1 of CAPE is built, in testing, and aimed at handling the first wave of claims inside its existing import system. (aaei.org) Phase 1 is not the whole universe of refunds. Customs said it will initially process most entries that are still unliquidated or are within 80 days of liquidation, while entries tied to reconciliation, drawback, open protests, or older non-ACE filings are being held for later phases. (cbp.gov) The money at stake is enormous. Court filings and trade reporting have put the total refund pool at about $166 billion, with $127 billion tied to 56,497 importers that had already completed an electronic refund setup as of April 9. (nbcnews.com) The politics did not end with the ruling. USA Today reported on April 15 that Learning Resources, the toy and school-supplies importer that helped win the Supreme Court case, is opposing a new round of tariffs, while other importers are still pressing for industry-specific protection. (usatoday.com) The result is a split-screen trade policy: Customs is building a system to return duties the courts said were unlawful, while businesses are still lobbying Washington over what tariffs might come next. For importers, the next date that matters is April 20, when the refund process is scheduled to begin. (cbp.gov)