Businesses Can Start Claiming Refunds for Illegal Trump Tariffs Monday

U.S. importers and the customs brokers who filed their entries can start seeking refunds for tariffs the Supreme Court found were not authorized under IEEPA, but the first hurdle is administrative: every claim has to be pushed through a new federal portal, and every mistake can slow down money that could otherwise take 60 to 90 days to arrive.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the CAPE system, short for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, opened Monday, April 20, 2026, at 8 a.m. for Phase 1 refund requests. Filers must use the ACE Secure Data Portal and upload a CSV file of entry numbers. Each CAPE Declaration can include as many as 9,999 entries, and users can submit multiple declarations. Only the importer of record or the authorized customs broker that filed the entries may submit a declaration, a restriction that puts the burden squarely on the companies that actually paid the duties or on the brokers that handled the paperwork.

CBP also made clear that refunds will not move without banking information. Payments will be issued electronically through ACH, and importers or brokers must have active ACE Portal account information with refund bank details on file. In its guidance, the agency said claims that are approved should be paid within 60 to 90 days, though it plans to process refunds in phases, starting with more recent tariff payments. That sequencing could leave older claims waiting longer, especially for firms with large volumes of entries spread across multiple shipments and ports.

The refund process stems from the Supreme Court’s February 20, 2026 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, which found the tariffs were not authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. CBP’s April materials say CAPE is designed to simplify IEEPA duty refund requests made pursuant to court order, but the system still requires importers to gather entry numbers, check their broker records, and verify that every filing is complete before submitting.

The scale is enormous. CBP has estimated the refund universe at roughly $127 billion to $166 billion, while TIME reported about $130 billion had already been collected in the tariffs the Court deemed illegal. With interest included, the government could ultimately owe importers hundreds of billions of dollars. For businesses that paid the duties upfront, Monday’s launch is the first concrete step toward getting that money back, and a test of whether Washington can turn a politically popular refund promise into a functioning claims system.