Overview
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the IEEPA-based tariffs unlawful in February, prompting the Court of International Trade to order a system for returning roughly $166 billion that CBP says it collected.
- Judge Richard K. Eaton ordered broad refunds in March and pressed Customs and Border Protection for details about timelines and coverage of the repayment program.
- CBP launched its phased CAPE portal on April 20 to process claims and has accepted about $85–90 billion in claims while Treasury has been sent roughly $20–22 billion for disbursement.
- The Justice Department has appealed Eaton’s universal-refund order to the Federal Circuit, contending refunds should be limited to parties to the original lawsuits and questioning CBP’s authority to reliquidate final entries.
- Importers have moved to certify a class to preserve broad relief because finally liquidated entries are not being processed now, leaving small businesses to choose between filing protests, suing individually, or waiting on the appeals court ruling which will shape Treasury outflows and corporate earnings.