CBP says it cannot refund Trump tariffs immediately.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection told a federal judge Friday that it cannot immediately refund roughly $166 billion collected under tariffs imposed by Donald Trump that the Supreme Court recently ruled illegal.
The agency made the statement in a court filing to the U.S. Court of International Trade while responding to an order from Judge Richard Eaton, who is overseeing lawsuits from importers seeking their money back.
CBP said the problem is scale.
According to the filing, more than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs and logged over 53 million import entries tied to the duties. Those tariffs were imposed using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump used to apply “reciprocal tariffs” on goods imported from countries around the world.
However, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 on Feb. 20 that the law does not give a president authority to impose tariffs without Congress.
So the duties were invalid.
Because of that ruling, companies that paid those tariffs are now seeking refunds through the Court of International Trade. Judge Eaton designated those cases to move through his courtroom while the government figures out how the refund process will work.
CBP told the court its current systems cannot handle issuing more than 50 million individual refunds.
Brandon Lord, executive director of the Trade Programs Directorate at CBP’s Office of Trade, said the agency is working to modify its Automated Commercial Environment system so refunds can be processed by importer instead of by each individual entry.
CBP told the court it believes the new system could be ready within 45 days. So the agency said refunds could begin around late April if the upgrades are completed.
The agency also told the judge the change could save more than four million employee work hours.
However, the legal fight is still ongoing while courts determine exactly how refunds will be calculated and distributed.
