US importers are receiving billions in tariff refunds through newly developed customs processing systems.
Officials corrected earlier figures after discovering major overstatement in reported refund claim calculations.
Refund program follows legal challenges and rollback of portions of Trump-era tariff measures.
US Customs and Border Protection is sending $20.6bn to importers who successfully filed claims using the new web portal developed by the agency, reported Bloomberg.
However, the government’s latest filing in US Court of International Trade also acknowledged a major mistake in its last report to the federal judge overseeing the tariff refund process, showing the value of refunds being processed in the early weeks of the program was far less than previously thought.
Two weeks ago, a US trade official said over $35.5bn in refund claims were being processed. But that figure “was overstated by about $10bn,” Brandon Lord, Executive Director of trade programmes for CBP’s Office of Trade told Bloomberg. The actual amount was closer to $25bn.
1 May 2026
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“This was not a reflection of any error in CAPE processing or refunds but rather was the result of an inadvertent error in the data query used to calculate the figure,” Lord told Bloomberg, referring the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, which it developed following the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned a large swath of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Approximately $85bn in both potential and certified refunds have been accepted for processing in CAPE as of May 22, he wrote. The $20.6bn figure reflects money that’s made it to the final stage of being disbursed to importers.
Lord said that number includes interest as well as the base amount in tariffs but didn’t include a breakdown of those two amounts.
Tariff Refund Row
According to the Congressional Research Service, US importers pay tariffs upfront when goods enter the country and can later seek refunds if duties are reduced, overturned or incorrectly collected.
The refund process gained significance after the US Supreme Court struck down portions of former President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, prompting customs authorities to create new systems for handling large-scale repayment claims.
Trade experts have warned that tariff disputes and refund backlogs can create financial uncertainty for importers, especially companies dependent on global supply chains and high-volume international trade.
What Is CAPE Tariff Refund
According to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the organisation is developing the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) functionality within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) to streamline the submission and processing of valid refund requests for duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as authorised by court order or applicable law.
CAPE is designed to consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis. CBP plans to implement CAPE through a phased development approach, adding more functionality in subsequent phases for more complicated scenarios.
The CAPE process is being deployed in phases, and CBP will launch the first phase of CAPE on April 20, 2026. Phase 1 is limited to certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation.
