CBP Launches Portal for Tariff Refund Claims

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will launch an online portal on Monday allowing importers to claim refunds for tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled were imposed without constitutional authority by former President Donald Trump. The system opens at 8 a.m. Eastern time, marking the initial phase of reimbursing businesses that paid billions in import taxes on goods from nearly every other country.

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision on February 20, determined that Trump overstepped Congress's authority on taxation last April by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. He had declared the U.S. trade deficit a national emergency to justify new tariff rates on a wide range of imports. While the high court's ruling did not directly address refunds, a U.S. Court of International Trade judge ruled last month that affected companies are entitled to them.

CBP estimates that more than 330,000 importers paid about $166 billion in such tariffs on over 53 million shipments. The first phase targets recent payments, specifically those estimated but not yet finalized or within 80 days of a final accounting. As of April 14, 56,497 importers had registered for the...