U.S. Opens $166B Tariff-Refund Portal; Retailers to Claim

The Trump administration on Monday opened a federal portal for companies seeking roughly $166 billion in tariff refunds after a February Supreme Court ruling. Major retailers including Walmart, Target, Nike, Kohl’s, Gap and Macy’s are expected to submit claims for duties collected under emergency import orders.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the new CAPE process will be phased in, with Phase 1 starting immediately. Phase 1 covers certain unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the past 80 days. Importers of Record and authorized customs brokers must file CAPE Declarations through the ACE Secure Data Portal using a CSV upload; the Automated Broker Interface will not be used. Each declaration may list up to 9,999 entries and filers may submit multiple declarations. CBP said only the Importer of Record for listed entries or the broker that filed those entries for that importer may submit a declaration.

CBP advised the CSV should list only the entries for which refunds of IEEPA duties are requested and said the CAPE upload template will be available under the CAPE tab in the portal. The agency warned that validated refunds will generally be issued within 60 to 90 days after acceptance of a CAPE Declaration unless further review is required for compliance concerns. “Importers and authorized brokers should anticipate that valid IEEPA refunds will generally be issued within 60 – 90 days following acceptance of the CAPE Declaration, unless a compliance concern requires further CBP review,” the agency wrote.

Entries that are extended, suspended, under review or placed in warehouses will retain their current liquidation status, and any validated refunds for those entries will be paid when liquidation occurs. CAPE-processed refunds remain subject to laws governing liquidation and reliquidation, including the netting of overpayments and underpayments across the full entry under 19 C.F.R. § 159.1. Refunds may also be diverted to cover an importer’s legally fixed and undisputed unpaid debts to the United States under 19 C.F.R. § 24.72.

An April 10 note from Citi estimated potential recoveries for major retailers: Walmart about $10.2 billion, Target about $2.2 billion and Nike roughly $1 billion. Citi estimated Kohl’s could recover $550 million, Gap $400 million and Macy’s $320 million. Citi’s equity analysts wrote that the refunds are unlikely to feature heavily in forward guidance but could provide one-time cash boosts that firms might use for share buybacks, debt reduction or to increase cash reserves. “If refunds are received, we will consider all options in terms of what to do with the cash,” the note said.

Retailers have voiced frustration about the process and lawyers cautioned that the actual timetable could extend beyond the 60–90 day window if entries require detailed review or if liquidation issues arise.

Separately, former President Donald Trump posted on the Truth social platform that any country supplying military weapons to Iran would face a 50 percent tariff on goods sold to the United States, with no exemptions.