The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that importers can begin filing requests for tariff refunds today (20 April) via an online portal. The system is designed to refund tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, which the US Supreme Court subsequently ruled were unconstitutional.
Customs and Border Protection reports that over 330,000 importers paid a total of about $166 billion on over 53 million shipments.
The announcement comes as the agency develops the Consolidated Administration and Process of Entries (CAPE) tool to assist with the refund process. This aims to streamline the submission and processing of valid refund requests for duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
This is the first phase of the refund process, so it is limited in scope to cover certain unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation. CBP says it plans to implement CAPE through a phased development approach, adding more functionality in subsequent phases for more complicated scenarios.
Requesting refunds of IEEPA duties
The latest guidance notes that parties requesting refunds of duties requires the following actions:
- Importers of record and authorised customs brokers have an established ACE (automated commercial environment) Secure Data Portal account.
- Recipients use the ACE portal account to provide CBP with bank account information.
- Importers of record and authorised customs brokers submit CAPE declarations in the ACE portal.
Additional information, including CAPE FAQ and latest updates from CBP, can be found on the US Customs & Border Protection website.
Importers and authorised brokers should anticipate that valid IEEPA refunds will generally be issued within 60 to 90 days following acceptance of the CAPE Declaration, unless a compliance concern requires further CBP review.
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