U.S. corporations and businesses that paid tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which were later ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, can start applying for refunds on Monday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will administer the refund process through an online portal. Beginning at 8 a.m., businesses seeking refunds can access the refund system to submit their reimbursement applications.
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“CBP has developed the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) automated functionality in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) to efficiently process refunds for Importers of Record (IOR) who have paid duties pursuant to the IEEPA,” read a statement issued by CBP about the portal process. “CAPE is a new ACE functionality that will streamline and consolidate refunds and interest payments for entries subject to the IEEPA duties, rather than issuing entry-by-entry refunds.”
Businesses seeking a refund will access the portal and submit information about the product for which they received tariffs under Trump’s program, according to the CBP instructions. If approved by CBP, the business or corporation will receive a refund within 60-90 days of filing. This duration includes “45 days for CBP review plus additional time to process the refund through the Treasury.”
In February, the Supreme Court ruled that the president did not have the constitutional authority to impose tariffs in its decisions in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., affirming the lower courts’ decisions. The Learning opinion did not address tariff refunds. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the Trump administration was to begin a process for reimbursing corporations and businesses that paid tariffs found to be unconstitutional, Axios previously reported.
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The court’s rulings and refund process have created a logjam at CBP, citing the “unprecedented volume of refunds.”
“In light of the Court’s March 5, 2026 amended order, CBP is now facing an unprecedented volume of refunds,” read court filings. “Its existing administrative procedures and technology are not well suited to a task of this scale and will require manual work that will prevent personnel from fully carrying out the agency’s trade enforcement mission.”
Court filings also revealed that, as of March 4, the amount of “estimated duty deposits collected pursuant to IEEPA is approximately $166 billion” by over 330,000 importers. Axios reported that as of April 9, only 56,500 of importers who are eligible for refunds had enrolled in the portal process for electronic payments, a required step for the refund process.
