Trump tariff refunds: When will the first payments go out?
U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a press briefing held at the White House February 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled against Trump's use of emergency powers to implement international trade tariffs, a
WASHINGTON - According to Reuters, the Trump administration is expected to begin issuing the first refunds on tariffs around May 11, following a U.S. Court of International Trade order filed Tuesday.
What they're saying:
Judge Richard Eaton said about 21% of import entries subject to tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) have been cleared for duty removal through a new system known as CAPE, or Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries.
RELATED: Tariff refund system launches today: Here’s who it’s for
Eaton, who is overseeing the process, added that roughly 3% of those entries have already been liquidated through CAPE and entered the refund phase, which includes payments from the U.S. Treasury.
Trump rips SCOTUS tariff ruling at State of the Union
LiveNOW’s Austin Westfall is speaking with Jeffery Degner from the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
The backstory:
The Supreme Court’s February 20 ruling that President Donald Trump lacked authority to impose the tariffs under IEEPA did not spell out how importers would be repaid, leaving uncertainty around the refund process.
RELATED: Trump moves to replace rejected tariffs with new import taxes
As of April 26, about 1.74 million accepted entries had been liquidated and were moving through the refund pipeline, according to the filing. Court documents indicate the total refunds could reach about $166 billion, covering more than 330,000 importers and roughly 53 million entries.
The other side:
Following the 6–3 decision striking down the tariffs, Trump criticized the ruling as "terrible" and "totally defective," and responded by introducing a new 10% global tariff.
Dig deeper:
The government had collected more than $130 billion from the tariffs by mid-December, and could ultimately be on the hook for refunds worth $175 billion, according to calculations by the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
RELATED: FedEx and UPS say they will return tariff refunds to customers
Trump has argued that his steep new import taxes are necessary to bring back wealth that was "stolen" from the U.S. He says they will narrow America’s decades-old trade deficit and bring manufacturing back to the country. But upending the global supply chain has proven costly for households facing rising prices. The taxes are paid by importers who typically attempt to pass along the higher costs to their customers. That includes businesses and ultimately, U.S. households.
And the erratic way the president rolled out his tariffs — announcing them, then suspending or altering them before conjuring up new ones — made 2025 one of the most turbulent economic years in recent memory.
The Source: Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes primarily from a U.S. Court of International Trade order and related court filings detailing the tariff refund process. This story was reported from Los Angeles.