Customs and Border Protection Opens a Refund Portal for Tariffs the Supreme Court Struck Down

On April 20, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened a claims portal allowing importers to seek refunds of duties collected under the emergency-powers tariffs the Supreme Court invalidated in February 2026. The agency published instructions and a process for submitting claims on the collected International Emergency Economic Powers Act duties, and provided updates on the mechanism to the U.S. Court of International Trade. Congressional offices began publishing guidance for constituent businesses on how to file.

The refund process is the unwinding stage of a tariff program that was collected for months before being held unlawful, and the size and administrability of that unwinding is itself a fiscal question: the government must return money it has already spent against a scheme a court has voided. How quickly and completely refunds are processed determines whether the judicial ruling has practical effect for the importers who paid.

The portal opened April 20, 2026. Separately, the replacement 10 percent global tariff was invalidated by the Court of International Trade on May 7, 2026.