About $20.6 billion in tariff refunds is now on its way to importers in the United States, according to a court filing on Tuesday from US Customs and Border Protection, reviewed by Bloomberg, which said the payments are in the final stages of processing. The agency said the refunds include interest and are being sent to importers who successfully filed claims through its new online system.
CBP confirms money is being released
According to the Bloomberg report, all the claims were submitted through a new web platform called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system, which was launched on April 20, 2026. The system was built inside the wider customs filing platform used for import entries.
According to the filing, the $20.6 billion has already reached the stage where it is being transferred to the US Treasury, which then sends payments to importers through direct bank transfers. Some delays have happened in cases where importers did not provide proper bank details for ACH transfers.
CBP also admitted that its earlier updates to the court had overstated how much money had actually been processed in the first few weeks. The real figures were lower than what was first reported.
Two weeks ago, a US trade official had said that more than $35.5 billion in refund claims were being processed. But that figure was overstated by about $10 billion. The real number was closer to $25 billion.
Why are these refunds happening
This entire refund process goes back to tariffs imposed during the second term of Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in 2025. Those tariffs were later challenged in court.
In February 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the use of IEEPA to impose tariffs at such a level was not legal. The court said the tariffs went beyond what the law allows.
Following that ruling, the United States Court of International Trade ordered CBP to undo the tariff charges. This included recalculating entries and refunding money to all eligible importers, not just those who had gone to court.
Scale of the refund operation
According to the latest update, around $85 billion in potential and certified refunds have already been accepted for processing through this system. The $20.6 billion now being released includes both the original duty amounts and interest, though CBP did not separate the two.
CBP is currently working through a massive volume of trade entries. Around 53 million import entries were affected in total, with importers having paid roughly $166 billion in tariffs.
According to Bloomberg, so far, nearly 16 million entries have been processed in the first phase. Out of these, about 8.5 million entries have already been cleared for repayment after being rechecked without the disputed duties.
Apart from that, more than 4,000 consolidated refund payments have not yet reached the US Treasury because some importers have not set up the digital payment systems needed to receive the money.
The entire refund exercise is being monitored by the trade court, which has asked CBP to keep giving regular updates as billions of dollars continue to move back to importers.