FedEx, UPS will return tariff refunds as U.S. reimburses duties

FedEx and UPS said they would return tariff refunds to customers as the federal government began reimbursing duties that were collected under a tariff program later struck down by the Supreme Court. The key question now is not whether money is owed, but whether it will make it past corporate balance sheets and customs paperwork to the businesses that absorbed the costs, and, in some cases, to the consumers who ultimately paid higher prices.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened the first phase of its IEEPA-duty refund system on April 20, 2026, using the ACE Portal and CAPE process. Phase 1 covers certain unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation, and CBP has said valid refunds are generally expected within 60 to 90 days after a CAPE declaration is accepted. The agency also said CAPE is built to handle refunds in batches rather than entry by entry, a design that could speed large-scale processing but also leaves importers waiting on a centralized system.

The first day brought a flood of claims. More than 55,000 parties submitted requests covering more than 4 million imports, underscoring how deeply the tariff fight had spread through the shipping network. UPS chief executive Carol Tomé said the company is applying for just under $500 million in refunds across 2.5 million entities and expects to eventually pass along more than $5 billion in tariff refunds to customers. FedEx said it is prioritizing submissions by liquidation date and will issue refunds after it begins receiving money back from CBP.

That promise matters because the refund process does not automatically reach every buyer. Only the importer of record can request refunds through CAPE, which means many individual consumers cannot file directly and must rely on the company or customs broker that handled the shipment. UPS said customers do not need to contact the company when UPS was the importer of record. DHL Express said it would automatically file refund claims for eligible first-phase entries and return the money to the original payor.

The legal backdrop made the refunds possible. The Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20, 2026, that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, and a separate Court of International Trade order on March 4 directed the government to provide refunds with interest to virtually all importers who paid the duties. That interest was estimated at about $650 million a month, adding pressure to move the money quickly.

For retailers, manufacturers and shippers, the stakes go beyond paperwork. If the repayment system works smoothly, companies may recover money they carried on their books for months. If it bogs down, tariff relief could remain trapped in administrative delays, long after the policy fight that created it has moved into the refund stage.