Feds have rejected 15% of businesses' tariff refund claims
Roughly 15% of tariff refund requests have been rejected since a government reimbursement portal launched on April 20, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
As of April 26, the federal agency had received more than 75,000 refund requests from U.S. businesses and other importers. More than 47,000 claims encompassing some 11 million tariff payments were properly filed, CBP official Brandon Lord said in a filing with the Court of International Trade on Tuesday.
The agency launched the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries tariff refund system, known as CAPE, to comply with an order issued following the Supreme Court's February ruling striking down emergency levies imposed by President Trump.
The agency launched the new tariff refund hub, known as CAPE, for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, to comply with an order following the Supreme Court's February ruling striking down emergency levies imposed by President Trump.
Nick Richards, a partner at law firm Greenspoon Marder who has advised clients seeking tariff refunds, told CBS News that some businesses are likely making errors in their claims submissions. In the first phase of the refund process, CAPE is only accepting applications for tariffs that have been finalized by CBP or estimated duties that can still be estimated.
Additionally, businesses may only seek refunds for tariffs imposed by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
"There are parameters, and I would imagine some of the submissions are outside of that scope," Richards said.
Apart from some glitches when CAPE launched last week, the portal is running as intended, according to CBP.
"Since the opening of CAPE on April 20, 2026, the only time during which the CAPE functionality was not available for use by importers and their brokers was an 18-minute period on April 20, 2026, when CBP briefly paused the ability to submit declarations to reconfigure resources and optimize the processing of CAPE declarations," Lord said in the filing.
Despite some hiccups, Richards said the process appears to be going smoothly. "I was amazed at the speed with which Customs put up this portal, so kudos to them," he said. "They've done an amazing job rolling this out."
Some business owners, however, report that they're having trouble filing claims for refunds they say are essential to their enterprises.
Beth Benike, co-founder of Busy Baby, a Minnesota-based maker of baby products, said customs officials have not yet helped her resolve an issue with her importer account that has left her unable to submit a refund claim through CAPE.
"I get an error that says my tax ID is linked to someone else's account," Benike told CBS News. She added that she has spent hours on hold with federal officials — time that takes her away from running her small business.
"I wear all of the hats. I have a lot to do and can't sit here for hours and hours trying to get through to fix an error on their end, when I've submitted tickets, gone through the process and done all the things I've been told to do."
Despite these challenges, she's confident the government will refund her the roughly $50,000 it owes her for IEEPA duties Busy Baby has paid.
"I do think eventually I'll get refunded, once I set up my account, they approve and then wait 60 to 90 days," she said. "I am still looking at several months until I see the money once I'm able to submit."
When that time comes, Benike said it will feel like "a huge weight" has been lifted from her shoulders.
