CBP has paid $100 billion in IEEPA tariff refunds

The Trump administration has reached a significant milestone in returning $166 billion in tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to importers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official Brandon Lord said in a filing submitted to the U.S. Court of International Trade on Tuesday that, as of July 31, CBP had paid out $100 billion in IEEPA tariff refunds. This amount represents the paid portion of the $128.68 billion in refund applications that CBP has processed through its dedicated portal. The portal was launched in April.

Many companies have recovered funds, including Amazon, which reported last week that it had received $600 million in refunds. With these funds arriving, companies are using the returned cash in a variety of ways.

For example, Amazon and Costco have both said they will issue refunds to some customers, while retailers such as Walmart, BJ's Wholesale Club, and E.l.f. Beauty are using the funds to lower prices. Additionally, brands like American Eagle Outfitters and The Children's Place are selling their rights to receive tariff refunds to quickly inject cash.

As more companies receive payments, CBP has been gradually expanding functionality in its dedicated IEEPA tariff refund portal, known as the Entry Consolidation Management and Processing System, or CAPE. Recently, CBP launched an update allowing CAPE to process entries awaiting reconciliation of final tariff calculations. Lord confirmed in Tuesday's filing that 2.2 million applications have been submitted since this feature went live on June 29.

Despite the addition of this feature, CBP has not yet implemented another expansion to handle entries with final liquidation. The agency previously stated that this feature would process approximately $11.4 billion (6.9% of IEEPA tariffs) in refunds and could go live by the end of July, but that deadline has passed.

Potentially hindering this update is a Department of Justice appeal that challenges the Court of International Trade's order to include all entries in the tariff refund scope. The lawsuit was filed in June, arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction to direct CBP to provide refunds for entries with final liquidation.

Even if the Department of Justice's appeal is resolved, the legal battle over tariff refunds may have more chapters. Multiple lawsuits have been filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade against President Trump's expired Section 122 tariffs and the recently implemented Section 301 forced labor tariffs.

IEEPA tariffs also faced similar lawsuits last year, which progressed through the judicial system until the Supreme Court ruled them invalid in February, leading to the refund order.