Trump administration certifies nearly $100B in tariff refunds after court rulings

The federal government in the US has completed and certified nearly $100 billion in tariff refunds following the legal invalidation of emergency import duties, according to a court filing submitted Tuesday.

The move marks a major step in unwinding roughly $166 billion in tariffs collected under President Donald Trump’s "liberation day" trade policy, which the Supreme Court struck down in late February after ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize the duties.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official Brandon Lord informed the US Court of International Trade that the agency has sent the certified refunds to the US Treasury Department for disbursement. The amount represents about 60% of the total duties collected under the emergency act in 2025 before a federal judge ordered the government to return the funds to importers.

CBP established a dedicated processing system, known as CAPE, in late April to manage the massive refund effort.

Data through July 31 shows importers and customs brokers have submitted 252,496 refund declarations spanning more than 25 million import entries. CBP has accepted nearly $128.7 billion in potential and certified refunds for processing, culminating in the roughly $100 billion currently cleared for payment.

The refund operation remains incomplete. Overall, more than 330,000 importers paid the invalidated tariffs across more than 53 million individual entries.

The update was submitted in connection with a lawsuit filed by California-based importer Freestyle World. The company is seeking class-action status on behalf of smaller businesses that contend they are facing obstacles in obtaining their refunds.