The United States is preparing to begin the next phase of one of the largest refund efforts in recent trade history, with importers set to start filing claims this month for tariffs that were later ruled unlawful. According to court proceedings and government filings, the refund process is expected to open on April 20, covering a major portion of the money collected under tariffs that the Supreme Court invalidated in February.
The immediate focus is on roughly $127 billion of the $166 billion collected under the overturned tariff regime. Court documents indicate that tens of thousands of importers have already completed preliminary steps to receive repayment, while the broader affected universe runs into the hundreds of thousands. A judge at the Court of International Trade has ordered the government to provide an update by April 28 on how the refund system is progressing.
To handle the scale of the task, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has built a new system called CAPE, designed to issue a single consolidated electronic payment to each importer rather than process refunds one shipment at a time. The agency says the rollout will happen in phases, beginning with certain unliquidated entries and certain entries still within 80 days of liquidation, with more complex cases to be added later.
The legal and financial significance of the process is substantial. The Supreme Court’s February ruling found that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not give the president authority to impose those tariffs, leaving the government to unwind a system that had generated vast sums and affected well over 53 million import entries. For importers, the refunds represent not only a financial recovery but also the delayed correction of a policy the courts found had no valid legal basis.
Even with the system now advancing, the process remains administratively demanding. Some businesses have already raised concerns about delays, complexity, and the practical cost of navigating the claims process, especially for smaller firms. The phased launch suggests the government is trying to avoid operational overload while managing one of the most complicated trade repayment efforts in years.
