The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is moving forward with a new system to refund roughly $166 billion in tariffs that the Supreme Court recently ruled were illegal.
Officials said the portal, designed to streamline refund requests, could take up to 45 days to process applications once it is fully operational.
Brandon Lord, a CBP official, told the US Court of International Trade on Tuesday that the refund portal is currently 60% to 85% complete.
"The new system will begin accepting claims in phases, prioritizing entries finalized within the past 80 days and those still under review or suspended," Lord said. The initial phase will also allow warehouse and warehouse withdrawal entries to be included.
So far, 26,664 importers of record have completed the process to receive electronic refunds.
These entries account for 78% of payments made under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), totaling around $120 billion, Reuters reported.
CBP has not yet announced an official start date for when the portal will open to all eligible importers, though earlier statements suggested a goal of late April.
US Customs is building a new portal to refund about US$166bn in import tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court, with interest accruing daily if repayments are delayed. #UnitedStates #tariffs https://t.co/gJGY1y37DM
— Thenationthailand (@Thenationth) April 1, 2026
CBP Prepares Portal to Return $166B in Illegal Tariffs
According to US News, the Supreme Court's decision last month struck down President Donald Trump's broadest global tariffs under IEEPA, affecting more than 330,000 importers and 53 million shipments.
While the Court did not provide instructions on how to return the collected tariffs, the Court of International Trade in New York City has been tasked with overseeing the refund process.
Large companies, including FedEx, have already sued CBP to ensure their right to a refund, with some estimates suggesting the process could have taken up to five years under previous methods.
Many smaller importers had worried that the cost and complexity of filing claims would outweigh potential refunds.
The new portal aims to simplify this, allowing importers to submit claims without resorting to litigation.
Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade previously instructed CBP to start processing refunds using existing systems.
The agency, however, opted to introduce the more automated portal instead, which will accept applications in phases and reduce the burden on businesses.
Originally published on vcpost.com
