Stetson Miller | April 20, 2026
(KWTX Waco)
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – A new online tariff refund portal was launched on Monday morning, two months after the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump imposed them illegally.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) opened the portal at 8 a.m., beginning the process of returning the billions of dollars that were collected through the tariffs.
“Checks aren’t going out today, but the process is starting, at least,” said Sara Albrecht, the chairman of the Liberty Justice Center, which led the tariff challenge against Trump at the Supreme Court.
CBP estimates it owes $166 billion in refunds to more than 330,000 business owners who paid the tariffs when importing goods into the U.S.
According to the customs agency website, each company must submit a declaration of what they paid through the portal. The claims will then be validated and paid within an estimated 60 to 90 days.
Albrecht’s legal group is also providing assistance to businesses to help them navigate the tariff refund process on their website.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there, as there is with any type of process like this,” she said. “So we’re collecting that information and we’re trying to help people walk through the steps on their own.”
What remains unclear is whether consumers will benefit from the refunds. The portal is only open to importers that paid the tariffs, even though prices on some products were increased as a result of them. That leaves the decision to pass on refunds in the hands of business owners.
“It’s up to the businesses,” said Albrecht. “So every business treated the tariff expense differently. I had one business who didn’t pass on any prices. So they absorbed the costs. I had another business that was so small they couldn’t absorb it.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said Monday that he was concerned about the lack of automatic refunds could impact small businesses and urged business to issue tariff refunds.
“Because of this Administration’s shortsighted decision to not issue automatic refunds, it will be big businesses that benefit the most,” he said in a statement. “American small businesses and families deserve to get their money back with interest. Big businesses that get refunds need to get the money back to their customers; ‘everyday low prices’ is not the way to do it.”
Some companies like FedEx have said that they plan to issue tariff refunds to customers and shippers who originally paid the charges.
To learn more about the TERRA refunds, click here.
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