The U.S. government is establishing a four-part system to refund $166 billion in illegal tariffs and interest to companies, according to a court document filed Thursday. At present, 40% to 80% of the construction progress of the system has been completed.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official Brandon Lord said in a court filing that the agency is developing an online filing portal for importers and customs brokers to submit refund requests.
Once submitted, the request will go through a process of processing, review and refund, according to the document. In a filing last week, Lord said the system could be operational as early as mid-April.
Lord filed the document with the U.S. Court of International Trade to comply with an order issued last week by Judge Richard Eaton. The order requires the government to refund monies collected for customs duties.
In February this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that most U.S. tariff measures were invalid, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump's core economic policies. However, the Supreme Court did not provide specific guidance on how to refund duties imposed on importers since February 2024.
Many large importers, such as FedEx, have sued U.S. Customs and Border Protection to defend their rights to refunds. Trump previously said the refund process could take up to five years. Meanwhile, many smaller importers are concerned that the cost of filing for a refund could outweigh the benefits of ultimately being compensated.
Eaton last week ordered Customs and Border Protection to begin processing refunds using its existing system, but the agency has proposed establishing a new process that could begin accepting refund applications as early as next month and would not require importers to litigate.
Lord said in Thursday's filing that the slowest progress in the system is the large-scale processing module, which is about 40% complete; the fastest progress is the review module, which is about 80% complete.
Customs and Border Protection has not said how quickly refunds will be issued. According to a court document filed last week, more than 330,000 importers paid relevant duties on 53 million shipments, but only about 21,000 have registered in the system to receive refunds.