Tariff refund payments may take up to 45 days once system operational: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a Tuesday filing said tariff refund payments may take up to 45 days to review and process once its new claims portal system is operational.

The U.S. Court of International Trade is overseeing the process for tariff refunds to importers who paid levies issued by the Trump administration. 

The duties were ultimately deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court in February, but the high court did not issue guidance on how to issue refunds.   

Brandon Lord, the CBP official who entered the Tuesday filing, says the administration’s new refund system is 60 to 85 percent complete. 

The system will accept refund applications without requiring the more than 330,000 importers who paid tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to sue for reimbursement.

The customs agency set an initial deadline of April for the system to be up and running. 

“CBP continues to issue messaging to the trade community to inform it of the new electronic refund requirement and provide information about how to complete the process to receive electronic refunds,” Lord wrote in the filing. 

The first wave of system claims will prioritize customs entries liquidated, or finalized, within the preceding 80 days and entries whose liquidation status has been “suspended, extended, or under review,” according to Reuters. 

For the most part, CBP will issue refunds electronically, except for outstanding circumstances where other payment methods may be necessary.