NEW YORK, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Friday that it is unable to immediately begin refunding reciprocal tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2025.
A judge in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday ordered CBP to pay refunds for tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
In a court filing, CBP cited existing technology, processes and manpower requirements as the reasons it could not comply with the order, suggesting it could begin issuing refunds by late April after it develops and implements new functionality in its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) that will streamline and consolidate refunds and interest payments on an importer basis.
"CBP is making all possible efforts to have this new ACE functionality ready for use in 45 days," the agency said.
CBP said in the same filing that as of Wednesday, the total amount of tariffs collected by the agency under IEEPA is estimated at "approximately 166 billion dollars."
In a 6-3 ruling on Feb. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump did not have the authority under IEEPA to impose import tariffs on goods from nearly all the U.S. trading partners.
