Two months following the Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate President Donald Trump’s extensive tariffs, American importers, entitled to $166 billion in refunds along with interest, will commence the application process for reimbursement starting Monday via a newly established portal by US Customs and Border Protection.
CBP projects that refunds will be processed within a timeframe of 60 to 90 days following approval; however, this duration may extend if further evaluations of entries are deemed necessary. The program, known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, “is designed to consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis,” according to a previous notice from CBP. (IEEPA denotes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the legislation upon which Trump based his now-defunct tariffs.)
Only entities recognized as importers of record that have made tariff payments, or customs brokers authorized to act on their behalf, are eligible to submit claims for tariff refunds. However, not all tariff payments will qualify for reimbursement starting Monday, which signifies the initiation of several phases for the program’s rollout. In the initial phase, only those entities that have completed specific tariff payments will be eligible to submit refund requests. The timeline for the system’s availability for all payments eligible for refund remains uncertain.
Furthermore, the timeline may extend even further if the Trump administration implements additional measures to postpone or diminish the magnitude of refunds. “There are alternative authorities that could potentially decrease that number significantly,” stated White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett during a recent interview, in reference to the magnitude of refunds issued.