US confirms nearly USD100 billion in tariff refunds after court ruling
Customs officials told a US trade court that about USD100 billion of the USD166 billion collected under Trump's tariff policy has been approved for payment to importers.
The United States has confirmed nearly USD100 billion in tariff refunds to importers, marking a significant step in unwinding about USD166 billion in duties collected under President Donald Trump's "liberation day" trade policy.
The refund process follows a Supreme Court ruling in late February that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorise the imposition of the duties.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official Brandon Lord informed the US Court of International Trade that the agency had submitted the confirmed refunds to the Treasury Department for disbursement.
The sum represents roughly 60% of the total duties collected under the emergency act in 2025, before a federal judge ordered the government to return the money to importers.
Special CAPE system
CBP set up a dedicated processing system known as CAPE in late April to manage the large-scale refund exercise.
Data up to 31 July showed importers and customs brokers had filed 252,496 refund declarations involving more than 25 million import records.
CBP received nearly USD128.7 billion in potential refund claims that have been verified for processing, with about USD100 billion now approved for payment.
Exercise still incomplete
The refund operation has yet to be completed. In total, more than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs that were later invalidated, covering more than 53 million import transactions.
The update was filed in connection with a lawsuit brought by California-based importer Freestyle World.
The company is seeking class action status to represent small businesses which claim they are facing difficulties obtaining their refunds.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.