Tariff Refunds Begin After Supreme Court Ruling

U.S. customs officials have started a formal process to return more than $166 billion in tariffs to eligible businesses , after a Supreme Court decision in February found the duties were imposed without legal authority. The refund effort was initiated under the Trump administration, and it is being implemented through a newly launched digital claims platform.

On Monday, the government introduced an online system called Cape to handle refund submissions tied to the affected import entries. Officials said the platform is designed to process about 63% of impacted import filings at the outset, with the remaining cases slated for later handling. The rollout reflects a phased approach, with the initial launch covering a majority of filings while additional categories are incorporated afterward.

The refund program follows a Supreme Court ruling issued in February. In the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts , the Court concluded that the 1977 emergency statute relied upon by the administration did not provide the broad authority needed to impose the tariffs in question. That finding triggered the need for a dedicated claims and processing framework, and customs officials built new infrastructure to manage what is expected to be a large volume of repayment requests.

More than 3,000 companies had previously pursued litigation seeking repayment of the tariffs. The list of firms cited in connection with those lawsuits includes Skechers , Revlon , Toyota , Nintendo of America , FedEx , and Costco . The legal pressure from a broad set of corporate plaintiffs formed part of the backdrop to the government’s move to establish a standardized refund pathway.

Eligibility is limited to companies that directly paid the tariffs, which officials described as primarily importers and large corporations. Consumers who faced higher prices as costs moved through supply chains are not eligible for direct refunds and have no direct mechanism to claim repayment. Some companies have indicated how they may handle any recovered funds: FedEx has said it will pass refunds to customers, while Costco has said price reductions are possible.

Officials said the expected processing timeline is 60 to 90 days from the time an application is submitted. However, the government also noted that certain cases will take longer, including filings that are complex due to legal disputes or those connected to ongoing investigations. The pace and completeness of repayments will therefore vary across claimants, depending on the status and complexity of each case.