Trump Administration to Begin Refunding $166 Billion in Tariffs

Source: New York Times

The Trump administration on Monday is set to take its first steps toward returning more than $166 billion collected from tariffs that were struck down in February. Just over a year after imposing many of the duties, the government is expected to begin accepting requests for refunds, surrendering its prized source of revenue — plus interest.

For some U.S. businesses, the highly anticipated refunds could be substantial, offering critical if belated financial relief. Tariffs are taxes on imports, so the president’s trade policies have served as a great burden for companies that rely on foreign goods. Many have had to choose whether to absorb the duties, cut other costs or pass on the expenses to consumers.

By Monday morning, those companies can begin to submit documentation to the government to recover what they paid in illegal tariffs. In a sign of the demand, more than 3,000 businesses, including FedEx and Costco, have already sued the Trump administration in a bid to secure their refunds, with some cases filed even before the Supreme Court’s ruling.

But only the entities that officially paid the tariffs are eligible to recover that money. That means that the fuller universe of people affected by Mr. Trump’s policies — including millions of Americans who paid higher prices for the products they bought — are not able to apply for direct relief.....

As a result, the refund system debuting on Monday, known as CAPE, will be able to process imports only at a certain point of the duty-paying process. That covers about 63 percent of import entries subject to IEEPA tariffs, the government previously said, though it plans to expand the system soon. In its public guidance, customs said it expected it would take 60 to 90 days to issue a refund once it accepts an importer’s filing.



Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/business/trump-administration-tariff-refunds.html?smid=bs-share

Trump Administration to Begin Refunding 6 Billion in Tariffs www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/b... Do you think so? I think Trump pocketed a lot of it. He owes American businesses more than just a refund as many of them closed. From now on he should be relegated to one task, Melania's dry cleaning.

— Nora Dunn (@beatlebomb.bsky.social) 2026-04-20T12:39:07.595Z