U.S. starts refunds for Supreme Court-invalidated tariff duties, up to $166 billion

U.S. businesses are starting to receive refunds for tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled were imposed without proper legal authority, triggering a government-wide repayment effort that could return up to $166 billion to importers, plus interest. The first confirmed payments have begun landing in bank accounts after U.S. Customs and Border Protection activated a streamlined online system to process claims tied to duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The controversy traces to a February 2026 Supreme Court decision finding that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by using IEEPA to impose broad import duties on dozens of trading partners. The ruling did not itself order how refunds should be handled, leaving lower courts and customs authorities to establish a mechanism to unwind the Treasury collections. CBP has since calculated that refunds and interest tied to more than 8.3 million shipments have been finalized so far, totaling about $35.5 billion. Additional repayments are expected as more entries are reviewed and verified.

CBP’s Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries system, known as CAPE, was designed to consolidate...