According to an order filed on Tuesday in the US Court of International Trade, the Trump administration is anticipated to start delivering the first refunds of tariffs declared unlawful by the US Supreme Court on May 11.
According to Judge Richard Eaton, who is in charge of the return procedure, some of the impacted import entries have already entered the reimbursement phase.
Through a new system called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), about 3% of entries subject to tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) have been liquidated and are currently in the return phase, which includes payments from the US Treasury.

According to the filing, about 21% of entries have been approved for duty elimination through the CAPE procedure. Approximately 1.74 million approved submissions had been liquidated and were being refunded as of April 26.
The repayment process might be enormous. Approximately $166 billion in duties paid from over 330,000 importers across approximately 53 million entries may be covered by the process, according to court records.
Following the Supreme Court's February 20 decision that President Donald Trump lacked the jurisdiction to apply tariffs under IEEPA, the refund system remained unclear, leaving firms waiting for refunds in the dark.

Trump called the 6-3 decision that declared the tariffs unlawful "terrible" and "totally defective," and in response, he imposed a new 10% global duty.
Trump's "illegal" tariffs are overturned by the US Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court's 6–3 decision to reject Trump's use of emergency powers to impose broad tariffs was a significant blow to his administration's trade strategy.
The president exceeded his jurisdiction under IEEPA, a 1977 legislation that is typically used for asset freezes and sanctions rather than general import tariffs, the court ruled. Although the Act does not specifically permit their use, the Constitution gives Congress the authority to impose tariffs.The decision came after numerous legal challenges from corporations and twelve US states, the majority of which were led by Democrats, claiming that the administration had circumvented Congress. Three disputes, one involving minor importers and the other in which a federal judge sided with a family-owned toy manufacturer, were the source of the cases.
Both conservative and liberal justices had voiced doubts about the administration's argument that trade deficits constituted a national emergency that warranted tariffs during hearings.
The ruling left open the potential of tariffs under other statutes, and officials—including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—have stated that the administration may look into additional legal options.The world was shaken by Trump's international tariffs.
Trump's foreign and economic policies have been heavily reliant on tariffs, especially during his second term when they caused significant disruptions to international trade.
The government claimed that ongoing trade imbalances threatened US economic stability and national security, so it placed broad "reciprocal" taxes on imports from a variety of nations. Trump used IEEPA to declare broad tariffs on the majority of US trading partners on April 2, which he called "Liberation Day."
Citing the trafficking of fentanyl and other illegal substances as a national emergency, he also used the same law in early 2025 to impose tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. Tariff threats have occasionally been applied to geopolitical conflicts, such as India's acquisition of Russian oil.

The actions caused financial markets to become unstable, strained relations with allies, and added uncertainty to the world economy. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that if the tariffs are kept in place, they may generate roughly $300 billion a year and have a $3 trillion economic impact over ten years.
According to US Treasury figures, customs duty receipts reached a record $195 billion in fiscal 2025, with over $133 billion collected by mid-December under the emergency powers framework.
According to independent estimates, the total amount collected under IEEPA-based tariffs topped $175 billion, much of which may now need to be reimbursed in light of the Supreme Court's decision.Trump has defended the tariffs as crucial to bolstering US finances and promoting US manufacturing despite the court loss, having previously warned that overturning them would be a "terrible blow."