U.S. to Launch $166 Billion Tariff Refund System April 20 After Court Ruling

The United States is set to roll out a major tariff refund system on April 20 after a February Supreme Court ruling found former tariffs unlawful. The decision forced the government to return about $166 billion collected from importers under measures imposed using emergency powers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has now completed the first phase of the system, known as CAPE, designed to handle the massive repayment process. The system will issue refunds as single electronic payments per importer, including interest where applicable, instead of handling each claim separately. As of April 9, 56,497 importers had registered for refunds covering $127 billion. However, about $2.9 billion in claims may require manual processing, which could strain resources. Overall, more than 330,000 importers and 53 million shipments were affected.