CBP tells judge it needs 45 days to start tariff refunds

U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Friday told a federal judge that it cannot comply with his order earlier this week to halt the processing of illegal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump so the administration can begin issuing refunds.

“CBP is not able to comply with the Court of International Trade’s order of March 4, 2026,” the agency told senior U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton, who issued the ruling.

But the agency also told Eaton it hopes to have a system in place in 45 days to process an unprecedented volume of refund requests.

“CBP has a history of developing effective processes to meet its legal responsibilities and operational needs that also provide efficiencies for industry, and we continue to do so now,” Brandon Lord, executive director of CBP’s Trade Programs Directorate, wrote in a brief.

Under customs law, importers generally have about 314 days after goods enter the country before a tariff payment is finalized, a process known as “liquidation.”

If companies fail to challenge the duty and request a refund after the duty is finalized — or liquidated — they must file a formal protest and, in some cases, challenge the decision in the New York-based trade court to recover the funds.

In CBP’s brief, Lord said the agency counted over 330,000 importers who made a total of 53 million entries in which they deposited or paid tariffs imposed by Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — duties the Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 were illegal.

Those total an estimated $166 billion in IEEPA tariff revenue. In addition, “approximately 20.1 million entries remain unliquidated as of March 4,” Lord said.

Given the volume of tariff entries CBP receives each year, the majority automatically liquidate using the agency’s Automated Commercial Environment trade tracking and tariff processing system.

Over 700,000 entries were scheduled to liquidate early Friday morning, including about 339,000 entries that include IEEPA duties, Lord said. Another 330,000 IEEPA-related entries are scheduled to liquidate on March 13.

Lord also said there are millions of “informal” entries that are expected to automatically liquidate this month, including many containing IEEPA tariffs.

Turning to refunds, Lord said CBP “never has been ordered to, nor has it attempted to, process a volume of refunds anywhere near” the amount now expected.

However, “CBP is confident that it can develop and implement new ACE functionality that will streamline and consolidate refunds and interest payments on an importer basis, rather than issuing 53,173,939 separate entry-specific results with multiple payments going to the same importer,” Lord said.

“CBP is making all possible efforts to have this new ACE functionality ready for use in 45 days,” he added.

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