The administration of Donald Trump says it is making headway in building an online platform designed to manage refund claims tied to nearly $170 billion in global tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States.
According to court documents, the planned web portal is about 70% complete and will serve as the backbone of a new automated system intended to handle a large influx of refund requests. The platform will allow importers to file claims online and receive payments electronically. Brandon Lord, an official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), disclosed the update in an affidavit submitted Thursday to the judge overseeing thousands of lawsuits seeking reimbursement. However, officials have yet to provide a timeline for when the system will be fully operational.
The update was requested by Richard Eaton, a judge at the United States Court of International Trade, who is presiding over the refund litigation. In a filing, Eaton said customs authorities appear to be “making satisfactory progress” on the project and requested another status report by March 19. The judge has previously ruled that “every single cent” collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) must be returned to importers.
In a 6–3 ruling, the Supreme Court concluded that the Trump administration improperly invoked IEEPA to impose sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on imports to address the United States’ long-running trade deficits. The decision left unresolved key questions about when and how businesses will receive refunds.
In his affidavit, Lord said the new CBP system – known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) – is being designed to automate most of the claim process once an importer files for reimbursement. The system is expected to issue consolidated refunds, allowing businesses to recover multiple tariff payments through a streamlined procedure.
“CBP expects that in its first phase of development, CAPE will be able to process the majority of formal and informal entries on which IEEPA duties were paid,” Lord said.
If implemented, the mechanism could affect hundreds of thousands of U.S. importers and tens of millions of tariff payments linked to IEEPA duties. It remains unclear whether Judge Eaton could require modifications to the system or whether importers might challenge aspects of the proposed process. Any disputes could trigger a new round of legal appeals.
The latest update builds on a March 6 affidavit from Lord, which indicated that CBP was developing a process that would be “simpler and more efficient” than the existing system and might be ready within about 45 days. The newest filing, however, does not specify any launch timeline.
According to Bloomberg News, Joyce Adetutu, a partner at Vinson & Elkins, shared that the proposed approach could significantly streamline the refund process by allowing importers to seek reimbursement for all their affected shipments in a single claim, rather than filing requests for each individual entry. Still, she cautioned that businesses could encounter additional delays if their documentation fails to meet government requirements or if disputes arise over the amount of refunds owed.
