Firms seeking refunds face new Customs deadline

There is a new deadline for U.S. importers to file for electronic refunds if the Supreme Court rules that President Donald Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are illegal.

US Customs releases details of a new app electronic return process Established on January 2, as part of the March 25 Trump plan executive order Modernize government payments and phase out physical controls.

A Supreme Court decision could come on the legality of Trump tariffs as early as this friday. The mandatory deadline for importers to register with Customs to receive electronic refunds through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network is February 6.

Name of the new digital customs system ace (Automated Business Environment) is a secure electronic portal that allows businesses to import/export data, manage business information and comply with regulations. ace Will manage ACH refunds.

Before this, importers had to manually create an account with Customs on the ACH network to pay duties or receive funds via email. Once that email was received by Customs, someone from the agency had to enter the data and then confirm that the account had been set up, according to Lori Mullins, director of operations at Rogers & Brown Custom Brokers.

“Customs couldn’t do it at this scale, so they had to create an electronic process,” Mullins said.

On December 15, U.S. Customs announced that $200 billion had been collected from new tariffs implemented by President Trump during his second term.

Mullins said importers should make sure they create their accounts before February 6 to avoid delays in potential refunds from customs.

“The window Customs provided was short, so with a potential SCOTUS decision coming in January and Customs no longer issuing paper checks, it was time to set up electronic ACH for possible refunds,” Mullins said.

The customs administration, which will come into force as of February 6, will no longer organize physical checks as the institution did in the past.

Lawyers representing the Trump administration argued before the nation’s highest court that refunding money to importers would be “messy.” American importers disputed this claim, telling CNBC that tariff rebates would be relatively simple.

Importers point to U.S. Customs paperwork that clearly details the tariffs they pay on goods brought into the United States. CNBC reviewed rate collection paperwork to verify these claims.

“At every customs entry, we detail specific line items that show the tax/tariff rates we pay,” said Rick Muskat, CEO of shoe company Deer Stags.

Open Customs entry summariesImporters identify the specific product code, country of origin and type of tariff paid.

International Trade Court if tariffs are ruled illegal has legal authority Requiring refunds to be paid to U.S. importers and retaining jurisdiction over refund claims for a two-year statute of limitations.

Supreme Court justices were skeptical of the administration’s stance during oral arguments, but the Trump administration said it had options to continue imposing the tariffs using other legal remedies if SCOTUS ruled against its current policy.

“We are optimistic that SCOTUS will rule favorably on behalf of the importing community, but we know it is very likely that any refund process could still take some additional time,” Mullins said. “We also recognize that the administration has other tools in its arsenal that it can and will likely use if IEEPA is declared unconstitutional, and if that is the case, we anticipate that 2026 will continue to bring uncertainty around sourcing imports into the United States,” he added.