U.S. Customs Says "Tariff Refunds to Begin in April...Streamlined System Under Development"

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told a court on the 6th (local time) that it expects to begin refunding tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the Supreme Court has ruled unlawful, in about 45 days, starting in April.
Judge Richard K. Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade, who is overseeing the tariff refund cases, had ordered immediate refunds. However, CBP reported that such an order cannot be implemented right away and proposed this compromise timeline instead.
According to reports by Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and other foreign media, CBP said it plans to build a streamlined refund system rather than processing each individual refund request manually. The agency explained that it needs additional time to put this system in place.
The agency stressed that it is not feasible to handle some 53 million tariff-refund cases one by one.
In documents submitted to the court, CBP reported that as of the 4th, tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and related estimated duty deposits total about 16.6 billion dollars (about 24.64 trillion won).
CBP stated that it expects to add new functions to its existing systems to simplify and consolidate refunds and interest payments on an importer-by-importer basis. These functions will be integrated into the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), the system used to track imported goods.
The agency added that it is making every effort to ensure the new ACE functions go live within 45 days, and noted, "We will require only minimal documentation from importers."
According to CBP, as of the 4th there have been more than 53 million IEEPA-related duty deposit and payment transactions, involving over 330,000 importers.
After the Supreme Court of the United States (U.S. Supreme Court) ruled on January 20 that tariffs imposed by Donald Trump under the IEEPA were unlawful, companies have been filing a wave of lawsuits seeking refunds.
FedEx opened the door to large-scale refund litigation, and Costco Wholesale and other companies have also applied for refunds. Costco Wholesale has announced that if it receives its tariffs back, it will lower prices again in the U.S. market.

dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter