Uncle Sam hates giving back money. It took the Trump administration less than two months to regret setting up its shiny new electronic tariff refund portal. Now, they want to pull the plug.
On Friday, the administration announced plans to appeal a federal judge’s order. That order opened the refund floodgates to every single U.S. importer affected by the illegal duties, not just the select few who filed lawsuits. Back in February, the Supreme Court killed these tariffs. They ruled that President Trump overstepped his bounds under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). He went too far.
So, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) built a portal. They called it the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE. It went live in April. Importers lined up for their share of a massive $166 billion pot. It worked too well. According to a May 26 court filing, CAPE processed $85 billion in claims. A cool $20.6 billion of that was already sent to the Treasury for payout by May 22. CBP, naturally, didn’t say who gets the cash.
The Department of Justice is furious. In a new filing, government lawyers argued that Judge Richard K. Eaton overreached by ordering blanket refunds. Their logic? If an importer didn’t sue, and CBP already finalized their paperwork—a process called “liquidation”—they are out of luck. “CBP has no authority to reliquidate or refund money without a court order,” the DOJ argued. No lawsuit, no check.
The DOJ also tried to shield CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott from testifying. Judge Eaton wanted him in the U.S. Court of International Trade to explain how the government plans to pay back 330,000 eligible importers. The DOJ begged the judge to spare Scott the trip. Eaton said no. He wants to know if the administration actually intends to pay up, or if this is just another stall tactic.
It probably is. Trump already warned that fighting over these refunds would drag on for years. Meanwhile, the trade war machine keeps grinding. The White House has already slapped down new duties under Section 301 and Section 122 of the Trade Act. The courts already declared the Section 122 tariffs illegal last month. Now, the Trade Representative is probing Section 301. The cycle repeats.
