Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, VITAL BRIEFING—One-third of importers to wait indefinitely for tariff refunds per U.S. customs agency, (Apr 3, 2026)
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) testified in court that over 330,000 importers had made a total of over 53 million entries relating to duties paid which were subsequently invalidated by the Supreme Court.
In this installment of Tariffs Insights, Thomas Thompson examines the plight of many importers who are seeking tariff refunds in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in February determining that those charges were not authorized under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA). Thompson noted the following developments:
The United States collected approximately $166 billion of tariffs pursuant to IEEPA.
CBP told the court that it would be capable of processing approximately 63% of entries for which IEEPA duties were paid or have been deposited. However, the agency was not able to provide guidance on the timing for processing the remaining 37 percent of the pending refunds.
In the first formal trade action since the IEEPA tariffs were struck down, the U.S. has signed a trade and tariff agreement with Ecuador, which followed the agreement framework for the accord reached between the two countries in November of last year.
Reportedly, the Trump administration is urging all countries that it has been working with to continue their trade negotiating as it domestically pursues various tariff strategies under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, even though the counterparty nations continue to take a wait-and-see approach with regard to dealing with the U.S.
To read the article, click One-third of importers to wait indefinitely for tariff refunds per U.S. customs agency.
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