CBP launches portal to return up to $166 billion in duties the president lacked authority to impose
April 20th, 2026: CAPE refund portal goes liveNew here? Follow stories to track developments over time. Create a free account to get updates when stories you care about change.
The U.S. government has never had to give back $166 billion it collected illegally — until now. On April 20, CBP launched the CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries) portal for importers to reclaim tariff payments the Supreme Court ruled unlawful. The first phase covers $127 billion across more than 56,000 registered importers.
The refunds trace back to April 2, 2025, when President Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 sanctions law, to impose sweeping import duties on nearly every trading partner. Five small businesses facing bankruptcy sued, and courts agreed at every level: IEEPA does not give the president the power to tax imports. The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in February 2026 set off the largest customs refund operation in American history.
But the launch was rocky. The system showed 'high volume' errors within hours; some users hit duplicate Tax ID errors, others spent hours on hold before they could file a claim. Trade attorneys warned that delays can cost importers their refund rights permanently.
The replacement tariffs Trump imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 now face their own legal challenges. The Court of International Trade heard oral arguments on April 10, 2026. Congress is also weighing legislation to end them.
Why it matters
Businesses that absorbed or passed on billions in unlawful tariff costs can now reclaim that money.
No questions yet — be the first to ask.
U.S. Supreme Court
Front view of the United States Supreme Court building on a sunny day with blue sky and clouds.
The majestic facade of the United States Supreme Court under a clear blue sky.
Supreme Court tariff ruling: U.S. may have to refund $175B
LiveNOW from FOX
Supreme Court Strikes Down IEEPA Tariffs; US Stops ...
The Financial Express
Supreme Court strikes down IEEPA tariffs, New Executive ...
Zonos
Images from Openverse under Creative Commons licenses. Videos from YouTube.
Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.
Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.
"How extraordinary that the mightiest republic on earth, having conquered a continent, cannot manage to build a working portal — the Americans seized half a world from Mexico and Spain, yet their customs clerks are undone by a duplicate Tax ID error."
Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.
"When a government builds a portal to return $166 billion it had no lawful right to collect, and that portal promptly collapses under the weight of its own ambition — well, I have built a great many things, and I can tell you that the surest sign of poor engineering is a structure that fails precisely when it is most needed."
Exploring all sides of a story is often best achieved with Play.
Your progress in this debate will be lost.
Choose one persona for each side of the debate
Choose personas with different perspectives for a more dynamic debate.
Select debater for this side:
No debate personas available right now.
Select debater for this side:
No debate personas available right now.
Make your prediction before the referee scores
Pick the question both personas must answer in the final round
Debate Oracle! You called every round!
Sharp Instincts! You know your debaters!
The Coin Flip Strategist! Perfectly balanced!
The Contrarian! Bold predictions!
Inverse Genius! Try betting the opposite next time!
The federal agency responsible for collecting import duties and now processing the largest customs refund operation in U.S. history.
The specialized federal court with jurisdiction over trade disputes that issued the initial ruling against IEEPA tariffs and is now supervising the refund operation.
The nonprofit legal organization that represented five small businesses in the lawsuit that ultimately reached the Supreme Court and struck down the IEEPA tariffs.
February 2025 April 2026
CBP launches Phase 1 of the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system, enabling importers to file refund claims covering $127 billion in IEEPA duties through the ACE Secure Data Portal.
Within hours of the 8:00 AM launch, the CAPE portal displayed 'high volume' error messages, produced duplicate Tax ID errors, and left some importers unable to access their accounts. Trade attorneys warned that delays from technical failures can cause importers to permanently lose refund eligibility. The Main Street Alliance called for the administration to streamline the process for small businesses without legal resources.
The Court of International Trade heard oral arguments in Oregon v. Trump and Burlap & Barrel, Inc. v. Trump, two cases challenging the constitutional and statutory validity of the 15% Section 122 tariffs Trump imposed as a replacement for the struck-down IEEPA duties. No ruling timeline was set, but the court ruled on the IEEPA tariffs just 15 days after oral argument.
CBP reports that 56,497 importers have enrolled in the automatic refund system, representing 82% of entries with IEEPA duty payments.
Judge Eaton broadens the refund order to include finally liquidated entries — those that had already completed the full liquidation cycle and protest period — ensuring no importer is left out.
CBP announces it will create a centralized electronic refund process, sparing importers from having to file individual lawsuits to reclaim duties.
Judge Eaton orders CBP to liquidate and reliquidate all entries subject to IEEPA duties without regard to those duties, directing the agency to build a refund mechanism.
In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, Chief Justice Roberts writes for a six-justice majority that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. The decision invalidates all tariff revenue collected under IEEPA — an estimated $166 billion.
Hours after the ruling, Trump announces new tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, set at 15% globally — the maximum allowed. Section 122 imposes a 150-day time limit.
The Court of International Trade rules that it has the power to order reliquidation and refunds if the Supreme Court holds the IEEPA tariffs unlawful, and that it will retain jurisdiction over claims for the two-year statute of limitations.
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and the companion case V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump.
The en banc Federal Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the CIT ruling, agreeing that IEEPA does not give the president power to levy import duties.
The CIT rules that Trump overstepped his authority by using IEEPA to impose tariffs and orders the Liberation Day tariffs vacated.
The Liberty Justice Center and law professor Ilya Somin file V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump in the Court of International Trade on behalf of five importers facing potential bankruptcy.
Trump signs Executive Order 14257, declaring a national emergency over the trade deficit and imposing IEEPA tariffs on nearly all countries — 10% baseline starting April 5, with higher rates for major trading partners starting April 9.
The administration publishes IEEPA-based tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, citing the opioid crisis. It marks the first time IEEPA has ever been used to impose tariffs.
3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Harbor Maintenance Tax — a 0.125% ad valorem charge on cargo shipped through U.S. ports — violated the Export Clause of the Constitution when applied to exports. The government had collected the tax from exporters for over a decade before the Court struck it down.
The government was required to refund all unlawfully collected payments to exporters, including interest. A claims process was established through Customs.
The case established the principle that the government must return unlawfully collected trade-related payments in full. It became the key precedent cited by importers seeking IEEPA tariff refunds.
This is the closest legal precedent to the current situation — a Supreme Court ruling invalidating a trade-related government charge and triggering a refund process through Customs. However, the IEEPA refund dwarfs it in scale: $166 billion versus roughly $730 million.
During the Korean War, President Truman ordered the federal seizure of U.S. steel mills to prevent a strike that he said threatened national security. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the president lacked authority to seize private property without congressional authorization, even during a national emergency.
The steel mills were returned to their owners. The steelworkers went on strike for 53 days.
Justice Jackson's concurrence established the foundational framework for analyzing presidential power — a three-tier test that courts still use today, including in the IEEPA tariff cases.
Both cases involve a president invoking emergency authority to take extraordinary economic action that the Supreme Court ultimately found exceeded executive power. The IEEPA ruling echoes Youngstown's core holding: emergency declarations do not give the president powers that Congress has not granted.
Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930, raising duties on over 20,000 imported goods despite a petition from 1,028 economists urging a veto. Trading partners retaliated, and U.S. exports fell 61% in three years. In 1934, Congress passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, delegating tariff-setting authority to the president to negotiate reductions — the origin of modern presidential trade authority.
Global trade collapsed. Senator Smoot and Representative Hawley both lost their seats.
Congress effectively surrendered direct control over tariff rates, creating the broad presidential trade authority that persists today — and that the IEEPA case now constrains.
The IEEPA ruling is the most significant judicial check on presidential tariff authority since Congress delegated that power 90 years ago. The 1934 delegation created the system; the 2026 ruling defined its outer boundary.