The Trump Administration Says It Can’t Process Tariff Refunds Because Of Computer Problems

The US Customs and Border Protection says it presently can’t comply pinch an bid to process billions of dollars successful refunds stemming from tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. In a filing connected Friday, CBP executive head Brandon Lord says nan agency’s integer import processing strategy is “not good suited to a task of this scale,” as reported earlier by CNBC.

The CBP’s admittance comes aft nan Supreme Court struck down nan tariffs imposed by Trump nether nan International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) past month. This week, nan International Trade Court ruled that importers impacted by nan tariffs are entitled to refunds pinch interest. The CBP estimates that it collected astir $166 cardinal successful IEEPA duties arsenic of March 4th, 2026.

Companies for illustration Nintendo, FedEx, and Costco person revenge lawsuits against nan US authorities successful nan International Trade Court, demanding refunds for nan tariffs that nan Supreme Court has deemed “illegal.”

The CBP says it presently processes imports done its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system. In nan filing, Lord says that utilizing nan department’s existing technology, it would return much than 4.4 cardinal hours to process refunds for nan complete 53.2 cardinal entries pinch IEEPA duties. Despite these existent limitations, nan CBP says it’s “confident” it tin create and motorboat caller capabilities to “streamline and consolidate refunds and liking payments connected an importer basis” — but this could return 45 days.

“The process will beryllium simpler and much businesslike than nan existing functionalities, and CBP will supply guidance connected really to record refund declarations successful nan caller system,” Lord says.