The Trump administration says it can’t process tariff refunds because of computer problems

The US Customs and Border Protection says it presently can’t comply pinch an bid to process billions of dollars successful refunds stemming from tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. In a filing connected Friday, CBP executive head Brandon Lord says the agency’s integer import processing strategy is “not good suited to a task of this scale,” as reported earlier by CNBC.

The CBP’s admittance comes aft the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs imposed by Trump nether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) past month. This week, the International Trade Court ruled that importers impacted by the tariffs are entitled to refunds pinch interest. The CBP estimates that it collected astir $166 cardinal successful IEEPA duties arsenic of March 4th, 2026.

Companies for illustration Nintendo, FedEx, and Costco person revenge lawsuits against the US authorities successful the International Trade Court, demanding refunds for the tariffs that the Supreme Court has deemed “illegal.”

The CBP says it presently processes imports done its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system. In the filing, Lord says that utilizing the department’s existing technology, it would return much than 4.4 cardinal hours to process refunds for the complete 53.2 cardinal entries pinch IEEPA duties. Despite these existent limitations, the CBP says it’s “confident” it tin create and motorboat caller capabilities to “streamline and consolidate refunds and liking payments connected an importer basis” — but this could return 45 days.

“The process will beryllium simpler and much businesslike than the existing functionalities, and CBP will supply guidance connected really to record refund declarations successful the caller system,” Lord says.