Trump administration set to launch tariff refund portal.

Next week, the U.S. government is launching an online portal for businesses to request refunds on tariffs deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. But payouts won’t be automatic, and legal experts caution that companies could still face hurdles in getting their money back.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is rolling out a new portal called CAPE, short for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, to make it easier for companies to file for tariff refunds. According to a filing on Tuesday, CBP said the portal will start accepting refund applications on April 20.

The government might owe businesses as much as $175 billion after the Supreme Court ruled in February that President Trump had unlawfully imposed tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Following the landmark decision, companies have filed thousands of lawsuits with the Court of International Trade (CIT) to claim tariff refunds.

“CAPE will simplify International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duty refund requests made pursuant to court order and in accordance with appropriate statutory authority by providing an electronic pathway to submit valid IEEPA duty refund claims,” CBP states in guidance on its website.

Here’s what to know about the government tariff refund portal, including who is eligible to submit a claim and how soon businesses could receive payment.

Although CAPE will offer a mechanism for businesses to seek compensation for the illegal emergency levies, it places the onus for obtaining refunds on hundreds of thousands of U.S. importers, trade attorneys told CBS News. The system also limits refund applications to “unliquidated tariffs” — estimated duties that can still be amended — as well as to tariffs that were finalized by CBP within the past 80 days.

“It’s amazing that CBP has been cooperative as they’ve been,” attorney Lizbeth Levinson, co-chair of the international trade practice group at Fox Rothschild, told CBS News. “But one thing has been clear from the beginning — that customs is putting the burden on the importer. Customs is not figuring it out. It’s up to each individual importer.”

Two types of parties can use CAPE to apply for tariff refunds: businesses that paid IEEPA tariffs and customs brokers that paid duties on an importer’s behalf. 

According to Levinson, only the so-called importer of record is entitled to a refund. This means that consumers who paid higher prices for an imported product aren’t eligible to file claims for a tariff refund.