A refund system for businesses that paid tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump is set to launch Monday, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the measures were enacted without proper constitutional authority.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is operating the online portal, said importers and their brokers can begin submitting claims through an online portal starting at 8 a.m. The process marks the first phase of what could become a broader effort to reimburse companies—and potentially consumers—who bore the cost of the tariffs, Republic World reported.
Businesses must file declarations identifying goods on which they paid import taxes. If claims are approved, refunds are expected to be issued within 60 to 90 days. Officials said reimbursements will be processed in stages, beginning with more recent payments, and noted that technical or procedural issues could delay claims.
The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on Feb. 20 that the tariffs exceeded presidential authority, finding that the administration improperly invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to set import tax rates without congressional approval.
While the high court did not directly address refunds, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled last month that companies subject to the tariffs are entitled to reimbursement.
CBP said in court filings that more than 330,000 importers paid approximately $166 billion in tariffs across more than 53 million shipments. Not all of those payments qualify for the initial phase of the refund rollout, which is limited to cases where tariffs were estimated but not finalized or fall within 80 days of final accounting, Republic World noted.
To receive refunds, importers must register with CBP’s electronic payment system. As of April 14, the agency said 56,497 importers had completed registration, making them eligible for refunds totaling about $127 billion, including interest, said the outlet.
Meghann Supino, a partner at Ice Miller, stated that the law firm has advised clients to carefully list all document numbers related to the forms submitted to CBP for describing imported goods and their values in their declarations.
“If there is an entry on that file that does not qualify, it may cause the entire entry to be rejected or that line item might be rejected by Customs,” she said, adding that the portal going live will require some diligence and patience.
“Like any electronic online program that goes live with a lot of interest, I would expect that there might be some hiccups with the program on Monday,” she said. “So we continue to ask everyone to be patient, because we think that patience will pay off.”
Nghi Huynh, the partner in charge of transfer pricing at Armanino, an accounting and consulting firm, stated that most companies seeking refunds will have imported a variety of items, and not all of these will qualify immediately.
“It’s about having a clear process in place and keeping track of what’s been submitted and what’s been paid, so nothing falls through the cracks,” she said, per the outlet. “Each file can include thousands of entries, but accuracy is critical, as submissions can be rejected if formatting or data is incorrect.”
Small businesses have been closely watching the rollout of the refund program. Brad Jackson, co-founder of After Action Cigars in Rochester, Minnesota, said he began organizing records and preparing submissions as soon as U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the launch date.
Jackson said his company, which imports cigars and accessories from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, paid about $34,000 in tariffs last year and absorbed much of the cost rather than passing it on to customers.
He also noted that a previous two-week shipment delay caused by missing documentation has made him more cautious as he prepares refund applications, Republic World noted.
“My main concern is the turnaround time,” Jackson told the outlet. “A refund process that takes several months to complete doesn’t solve the cash flow problem that it is supposed to fix.”
