The Trump administration has reached a significant milestone in its efforts to return $166 billion in International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariff revenue to importers.
Customs and Border Protection has paid out $100 billion in IEEPA tariff refunds, as of July 31, agency official Brandon Lord said in a Tuesday filing with the Court of International Trade. That amount accounts for paid refunds out of the $128.68 billion the CBP has accepted through its dedicated portal launched in April.
Numerous companies have recouped funds, including Amazon, which last week reported it had received $600 million in reimbursements. With these funds in hand, approaches to how to utilize the returned cash have been wide-ranging.
For example, Amazon and Costco have both indicated they would issue refunds for some customers, while retailers such as Walmart, BJ’s Wholesale Club and E.l.f. Beauty are using the money to lower prices. Additionally, some brands such as American Eagle Outfitters and The Children’s Place are selling their rights to tariff refunds for a quick infusion of capital.
As more companies secure payments, CBP has been slowly expanding capabilities within its dedicated IEEPA tariff refund portal, known as Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE. Most recently, CBP went live with an update that allows CAPE to handle entries for shipments that are awaiting reconciliation of final tariff calculations. Lord confirmed in Tuesday’s filing that 2.2 million submissions have been filed since the feature launched June 29.
While that new feature has been added, CBP has still yet to implement another expansion to CAPE’s capabilities to handle finally liquidated entries. The agency previously said the functionality, which would handle roughly $11.4 billion or 6.9% of IEEPA tariffs, could launch by the end of July, but that deadline has come and gone.
Potentially gumming up the works for the update is a Department of Justice appeal rebuffing a Court of International Trade order to include all entries for tariff refunds. The suit, filed in June, argues the court lacks jurisdiction to direct CBP to provide refunds for finally liquidated entries.
Even once the DOJ’s appeal is settled, the legal battle over tariff refunds may have additional chapters. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in the Court of International Trade against both President Donald Trump’s expired Section 122 tariffs and recently implemented Section 301 forced labor levies.
The IEEPA tariffs similarly faced lawsuits last year that made their way through the judicial system before the Supreme Court ruled against them in February, leading to the order for refunds.
