Tariff Refund Process Still Under Development As Trump Administration Faces Growing Pressure
Last week, a spokesperson from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said tariff refund payments may take up to 45 days to review and process — and that is once the CBP’s new claims portal system is operational. That system is not operational yet, but agency spokesperson Brandon Lord said it is about 60-85 percent complete, and could be online as soon as late April.
As Connecting the Dots readers may recall, these refunds are necessary following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn President Donald Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs. The federal government collected approximately $175 billion in tariffs as part of the IEEPA regime.
The CBP also offered additional details last week about how the refund process will work. As Supply Chain Dive reported, as part of CBP’s Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system, importers will need to request refunds through a dedicated claims portal as part of a four-step process. The CBP also outlined an expanded list of entries CAPE will accept within its initial rollout. This list includes entries labeled “suspended,” “extended” or “under review,” as well as warehouse withdrawals.
According to The Wall Street Journal, more than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against the U.S. government in the Court of International Trade by companies hoping to maximize their chance of getting a refund quickly.
State policymakers also are weighing in on this matter. Last month, a group of 18 attorneys general requested that members of the U.S. House and Senate require the Trump administration to automatically refund tariffs imposed under the IEEPA. Their March 18 letter argued that importers should not have to file protests, sue, or navigate a fragmented claims process in order to get their money back. The attorneys general also requested that federal lawmakers consider ways to address harm to consumers, who they estimate paid as much as $12.6 billion through higher prices passed along by businesses.