Yesterday, the U.S. government began accepting requests from American importers seeking refunds of up to $166 billion in tariff fees the Trump administration collected over the last year. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariffs imposed by the White House on imports from abroad, calling them “illegal.” The Court ordered the government to refund the fees it collected, plus interest. Over 3,000 companies including Costco and FedEx have sued the U.S. government over the tariffs demanding they be refunded to them.
The Trump administration used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose the fees on imports levied according to the country exporting the consumers goods to American consumers. The 1977 law authorizes the U.S. president to declare a national emergency on commercial transactions based on “unusual and extraordinary” threats from countries.
But the Court determined that the law could not be used to set tariff rates for imports.
Around 90% of the tariffs paid by American consumers in 2025 came from goods imported from China, Canada and México. The U.S. government is currently in talks with Mexican officials in preparation for the upcoming June talks between them and Canadian officials to decide if the three countries wish to continue the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Tariffs on imports from Canada, China and México surpassed $179 billion last year.
It is estimated that American consumers paid around $1,000 in additional expenses in 2025 because of the tariffs.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be managing the tariff refunds. It launched the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) yesterday, an online tool designed to process the refunds to companies seeking them. It will take between 30 to 60 days for the companies to receive their refunds once they have been accepted them.
The Court Ruling
In Learning Resources, Inc. et al, v. Trump, which was consolidated with V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, the Court held – six to three – that IEEPA “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” Justice John Roberts authored the opinion. He was joined by Justices Amy Coney Barret, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor. Justice Gorsuch added in the opinion that “the sweeping tariff power he [Trump] seeks to wield” is not provided by IEEPA.
Kavanaugh, in dissenting with the majority of the Court wrote that although the tariffs at issue “may or may not be wise policy,” they are “as a matter of text, history, and precedent,” clearly lawful.
Because of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the tariffs collected are now considered illegal, forcing the U.S. government to refund the taxes to the importers through the online dashboard they launched yesterday.
Can El Pasoans Seek Refunds?
The Supreme Court ruling ordered that the tariff refunds be refunded to the company or individual that paid the tariff fee directly to the government. To access the refund tool, importers must login into their account on the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) dashboard. There are around 330,000 importers registered to handle imports. Only these companies have access to the refund dashboard.
This precludes individuals from seeking refunds for the tariffs even if they paid a tariff fee when they purchased a product. Some companies chose to keep their prices stable by absorbing the tariff tax. Others chose to pass the tariff on to consumers. Companies who raised prices or added tariff fees are unlikely to pass the refunds on to their consumers. Others, like Costco will refund tariffs by lowering prices, which does not refund any money to the consumers that paid the tariff.
Other companies, like FedEx, have said they will refund the tariff fees to the consumers who paid them. FedEx was frequently listed as the importer of record, and it added fees to deliveries to pay the tariffs. UPS, however, said that they will help its customers seek refunds directly from the government.
It is small businesses that will suffer the most from the tariffs. Most do not have compliance departments that keep the necessary documentation on hand needed to request tariff refunds. The small businesses likely absorbed the tariff as the cost of doing business while their size likely prevents them from seeking the refunds leaving them bearing the cost.
Except for a few customers who worked with FedEx, most consumers will not be receiving tariff refund checks from either the federal government or the businesses that charged tariff fees, or raised prices.
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