Paid tariffs on China goods? Billions in refunds are waiting, and some are stuck

If you imported goods from China into the United States in 2025 or early 2026, you may be owed money back. In February the Supreme Court ruled that the emergency tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, known as IEEPA, were not lawful. The case, Learning Resources v. Trump, was brought by an educational toy company. Since April, US Customs and Border Protection has been paying refunds through an online process called CAPE, and the amounts are large.

As of October 2, CBP had accepted about $136.6 billion in potential and certified refunds and sent about $126 billion to the Treasury for payment. But not everyone has been paid. As of September 11, more than 20,000 refunds worth about $1.3 billion were on hold because the importer's bank details were missing.

How the refunds work

CAPE sits inside CBP's online ACE portal. The importer of record, or the licensed customs broker who filed the entries, uploads a simple spreadsheet of entry numbers, up to 9,999 per file. CBP checks them, recalculates the duty, and pays the IEEPA tariffs back with interest. Refunds usually arrive 60 to 90 days after a claim is accepted, and they are paid only by bank transfer. There are no paper checks.

The Main Phases Include:

• Phase 1, from April 20. Covers most entries where IEEPA tariffs were paid and the entry has not passed the cutoff after liquidation.
• Later updates. Some entry types were added in June, and warehouse entries were handled separately from July.
• Phase 3, from October 6. Covers entries that were already finally liquidated. For now it is open only to importers in the court case who gave CBP their importer number by July 30, and the government has appealed this part.

What it means for buyers

• Find out who your importer of record was. If you shipped by UPS, DHL or FedEx, the courier may have cleared your goods as broker while you were the importer. UPS says that if it was the importer of record, the customer does not need to act.
• Check your bank details with CBP. Refunds only go out by bank transfer. If your details are missing, the refund waits until you fix them.
• Do not wait. Entries more than 80 days past liquidation fall outside the main process. Many 2025 entries are liquidating now.
• Ask your broker or courier for help. Some brokers, including UPS, offer to file claims for a fee. You can also file yourself through ACE.
• Know what is not refunded. This covers only the IEEPA tariffs. Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods still apply and are not part of these refunds.

This article is general information and not legal or customs advice. Speak to a licensed customs broker or trade lawyer about your own entries.

Top image: The US Supreme Court building in Washington. Claire Anderson, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: US Customs and Border Protection, via GHY International and Supply Chain Dive