WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. government began processing refunds in late April 2026 for tariffs imposed under the Trump administration after the Supreme Court struck them down. Federal agencies have put a refund process in place covering levies collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, under which roughly 330,000 importers paid more than $166 billion in tariff fees.

Customs brokers file refund requests electronically through the Customs and Border Protection ACE Secure Data Portal. The original customs broker designated as the importer of record must apply for the refund, and importers or brokers must upload a Consolidated Administration and Processing for Entries Declaration digital file listing the entries eligible for refunds, the government says.

The first phase of the process is limited to shipments liquidated within the past 80 days, with some unliquidated shipments also being processed. Switching customs brokers to file a refund claim is not straightforward.

"You can work with another broker in a consulting capacity, but your options for now are limited," said Melissa Alvarado Quisenberry, vice-president at Michigan-based Supply Chain Solutions, which helps businesses manage freight forwarding, transportation, customs brokerage, warehousing, inventory and shipping operations. The firm has been filing tariff refund claims for many of its clients since late April. Quisenberry tells her clients to expect their refunds in 60 to 90 days.

Service providers charge fees for filing the claims. During the pandemic-era Employee Retention Tax Credit program, some service providers filed fraudulent refund claims until the Internal Revenue Service imposed stricter controls on that program.

Many clients who paid the tariffs took a tax deduction for the cost in 2025. Refunds made in 2026 will be taxable.

FedEx, UPS and DHL have each pledged to return tariff refunds to their customers. Amazon, Apple and Costco have not announced whether they will share their refunds with customers.