On Monday, the U.S. Customs portal will begin accepting refund requests from businesses that paid President Trump’s tariffs before the Supreme Court declared most of them unconstitutional. After weeks of waiting for guidance on how — or whether — refunds would be handled, importers are poised to join what NPR describes as America’s hottest new queue.
U.S. Customs is launching the first phase of payouts, so not all imports covered by the court’s decision will immediately qualify. Federal guidance says that once refund requests are approved, it could take 60 to 90 days to return money to the importer. The launch is the first tangible step after the high court’s ruling two months ago; the court did not specify a refund process, and officials initially warned the task could be unwieldy.
“Small businesses organized, spoke out, and won a major victory,” said Main Street Alliance. “Now, the federal government must follow through with a refund process that truly works for Main Street.”
Customs estimates it owes $166 billion in tariff refunds. Agency filings indicate the initial phase will address the majority of affected imports. A Customs official told a judge that most eligible importers signed up for electronic payments — a requirement for the first phase — and that this group is owed about $127 billion.
Economists and legal experts say shoppers will probably not see refunds directly. Tariff costs are often embedded across supply chains — manufacturers, suppliers, importers and retailers can each absorb portions of the cost — and with tariffs imposed amid historic inflation, many companies say they shouldered much of the burden to avoid alarming customers.
Retailers face particular uncertainty because refunds will go to whoever paid the customs bill. Many store owners paid tariff surcharges indirectly via higher wholesale prices. “I plan to have conversations with a number of manufacturers and hope that they will do the right thing and share some of the tariff refund money with us,” says Joe Kimray, owner of B & W Hardware in North Carolina. “I don’t expect to get a direct refund check from anyone, but it could be even as simple as offering discounts on the wholesale cost of future product purchases.”
Shoppers seeking reimbursement have filed class-action suits against companies including Costco and FedEx. FedEx has pledged to pass any refunds it receives through to customers. Costco’s CEO told investors the company would return value to shoppers through lower prices and transparency about its plans.
Customs’ initial phase focuses on tariff payments that haven’t been finalized because they’re still under federal review; import duties are typically paid at the border and resolved in a customs review that can take nearly a year. The government is rolling out a new system called CAPE to process refunds and will later handle older, finalized payments.
When asked about the scale of the first-phase workload, a CBP spokesperson said CAPE was developed “to efficiently process refunds” and directed importers and brokers to updated tariff-refund guidance.
NPR’s Scott Horsley contributed to this report.