CBP asks judge for more time to work on tariff refunds

Source: ABC News

March 6, 2026, 4:22 PM


A Customs and Border Protection official on Friday told a federal judge that the agency does not have the technology or manpower to immediately process $166 billion in tariff refunds, arguing the process would distract from its role addressing "imminent threats to national security."

In a sworn filing, the official said that CBP needs an additional 45 days to create a system to process refunds for the more than 53 million entries related to the unlawful tariffs.

"CBP has never been ordered to, nor has it attempted to, process a volume of refunds anywhere near the volume of total entries and Entry Summary lines on which IEEPA duties have been deposited," wrote Brandon Lord, the executive director of CBP's Trade Programs Directorate.

The disclosure comes two days after a judge from the Court of International Trade initially ordered the Trump administration to remove the tariffs from its backlog of import paperwork. Even though the liquidation process -- when the agency finalizes a tariff payment after goods enter the country -- is largely automated and the Supreme Court overturned the tariffs two weeks ago, Lord said that Customs and Border Protection "is not able to comply" with the court's order.


Read more: https://abcnews.com/Politics/cbp-immediately-comply-court-order-tariff-refunds-requests/story?id=130836864