U.S. Treasury processes $100 billion in refunds for tariffs invalidated by Supreme Court
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The administration has refunded roughly $100 billion of tariff revenue collected under the IEEPA program after a Supreme Court ruling invalidated the duties, with the process overseen by Customs and Border Protection’s CAPE system.
The U.S. Treasury has disbursed about $100 billion in refunds to importers for duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) program that was struck down by the Supreme Court. The amount represents roughly 60% of the $166 billion in revenue the government reported from the tariffs imposed in 2025.
Following the Court’s February decision that IEEPA did not authorize the tariffs, federal Judge Richard Eaton ordered that the collected duties be returned to importers. In response, Customs and Border Protection launched the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system in late April to manage the refund process.
According to a filing in the U.S. Court of International Trade, CAPE has recorded 252,496 refund declarations covering more than 25 million import entries as of July 31. The system has accepted nearly $129 billion in potential and certified refunds, with about $100 billion already certified and sent to the Treasury for payment.
The filing was part of a lawsuit by Freestyle World, an importer seeking class-action status on behalf of smaller businesses that paid the IEEPA tariffs and claim difficulties obtaining refunds through CAPE. The government argues the request for class certification was filed too late and is therefore invalid.
Despite the progress, the refund effort remains extensive, with over 330,000 importers having paid duties on more than 53 million entries.
"Tariffs have been incredible. We've taken in hundreds of billions of dollars," President Donald Trump said in a recent interview, adding that the administration would pursue alternative legal mechanisms after the Court’s ruling.