In the White House Rose Garden last April, President Donald Trump proudly hoisted a chart that listed sweeping reciprocal tariffs he planned to levy on nearly all of the United States’ global trading partners. Just over a year later, the controversial tariffs have allowed the Trump administration to collect $166 billion in revenue from import taxes.
But now, after a devastating Supreme Court ruling in February that found Trump lacked the legal authority to impose those tariffs, the administration is on the hook to pay it all back to American importers — plus interest.
On Monday, the Trump administration officially debuted the tariff refund portal to make that happen. American importers can apply through the portal to get back the billions of dollars the U.S. illegally collected from them over the past year.
The launch of the portal marks a turning point for the American businesses that have largely footed the bill for the president’s aggressive trade policies.
Here’s what businesses and consumers can expect
Because tariffs are taxes on imports, American companies that rely on foreign inputs to conduct business have borne the brunt of the economic cost of a trade policy the White House once billed as necessary to guarantee “the national and economic security of the country and its citizens.”
The refund program, known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, allows entities that directly paid taxes on imports to submit documentation to Customs and Border Protection — the federal agency responsible for managing tariffs — to request reimbursement.
The portal is just the first step in a multi-phase effort to return the tariff revenue. It’s designed to “consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis,” according to CBP.
The refunds are expected to take between two and three months to reach importers’ bank accounts — a timeline that could be extended if CBP flags applications for further review.
Only parties formally designated as importers of record are eligible to seek a refund. That means it’s highly unlikely American consumers, who paid higher prices for goods and services as businesses passed along tariff costs to customers, will see any of their money returned.
What’s the catch?
The first phase of CBP’s digital refund system has significant limitations. It will only process about 63% of affected import filings, according to court filings, and only applies to tariffs that were either liquidated or unliquidated within the past 80 days. Companies that owe debts to the federal government or are involved in legal disputes are not eligible to apply, according to CBP.
The Supreme Court avoided the question of tariff refunds in its decision, leaving the matter to the U.S. Court of International Trade, which ruled in March that the Trump administration had to come up with a system to refund the IEEPA tariffs.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision, Trump vowed to implement new reciprocal tariffs under a different provision of the Trade Act of 1974. While the White House investigates alternate routes to reviving the tariffs that were struck down, Trump signed an executive order imposing a new 10% “global tariff” under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
CBP did not respond to request for comment from MS NOW on how the collection of new tariffs could impact the refund process.
Businesses could choose to refund their customers with the money they get back from the federal government, but few have indicated plans to do so. FedEx, one of the largest companies involved in a class action lawsuit seeking to prove the tariffs illegal before the Supreme Court’s ruling, said it would return tariff refunds to customers.
Some consumers have taken matters into their own hands. Costco shoppers filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status after the retailer said it would refund its customers through lower prices, not cash.
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