WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration said it cannot immediately begin issuing tariff refunds to U.S. businesses, despite a recent court order requiring the government to start reimbursing importers.
Officials told a trade court that the refund process is too complex to launch right away. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it faces an “unprecedented volume of refunds” after the Supreme Court ruled that many tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were illegal.
In a court filing, CBP trade division official Brandon Lord said the agency’s current systems and procedures are not designed to handle refunds on such a large scale. He warned that processing the repayments would require extensive manual work and could divert personnel from trade enforcement duties tied to national and economic security.
The filing confirmed that the federal government owes approximately $165 billion in tariff refunds, not including interest.
Officials said CBP is developing new system functionality that could help process the payments, but it may take about 45 days before the system is ready.
Businesses across the country are closely watching the case, as many companies are awaiting potentially significant reimbursements from the disputed tariffs.
Sources
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