Indian exporters whose goods were subject to reciprocal and penal tariffs in the US market for about ten months since April, 2025 may recoup as much as $7-8 billion. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has started settling the claims regarding these levies which the US Supreme Court invalidated, a senior industry official said.
The total incidence of these extra tariffs over MFN rates on Indian goods is estimated to be around $12 billion, but over a third of that amount may not be recoverable.
Importers of Indian goods or intermediates actually paid these levies. Recovery will be easier in cases where Indian exporters have related-party outfits in the US.
The refunds will be issued only to importers on record and authorised customs brokers with a US bank account. Any gain from the refund process for Indian exporters would depend on how they structured their transactions when the US increased additional tariffs on India between April and August last year. The tariff started from 10% in April to 50% by August, said Ajay Sahai, CEO and Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).
Corporate Disclosures
Some listed companies importing into the US through their local subsidiaries have already announced the scale of refunds received in regulatory filings. Elgi Equipments, for instance, has announced that it has received Rs 25.6 crore, ADF Foods got back Rs 19.97 crore and Jash Engineering received Rs 4.5 crore. The US has accepted Camlin Fine Sciences’ refund claim of Rs 9 crore.
There have been other cases where claims have been accepted or refunds released, but these have not been disclosed as the exporting companies are not listed, said Pankaj Chadha, Chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC).
Other major Indian companies with subsidiaries in the US, like Pearl Global and Aditya Birla Group entities, could also be eligible for refunds.
About 53% of India’s exports to the U.S.—mainly textiles and apparel—faced these high tariffs, making them the biggest contributors to refunds. Of the estimated $12 billion in taxes imposed on India, textiles and apparel may account for about $4 billion, engineering goods another $4 billion, and chemicals about $2 billion, with smaller shares from other sectors, said Ajay Srivastava, founder of Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).
Claim Mechanisms
Refunds can also flow to Indian exporters if they had reached an understanding with their buyers on sharing the tariff burden by offering heavy discounts with an agreement for future adjustment.
Even exports on a Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) basis can claim a share of the tariff refund, Sahai said. In DDP the seller covers shipping, customs clearance, duties, and taxes. The taxes are paid through a clearing agency and under CBP rules even they are eligible to claim a refund. “The clearing agent in these cases can collect the refund and pass it on to the seller as the duty was also paid through the agent,” the FIEO DG said.
The refunds follow a February 20 ruling by the US Supreme Court, which said President Donald Trump’s tariffs were illegal because they were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) without proper legal authority. The total tariff refund is about $166 billion
Indian exports to the US faced 50% tariffs between August 28, 2025 and early February 2026.
On February 6, it was announced through a India-US joint statement that tariffs on India would be reduced to 18% from 50%. But before this could fully take effect, the Supreme Court ruling invalidated the entire framework, making the tariffs legally void and triggering refunds.
