The Supreme Court recently declared the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs unconstitutional, creating the legal basis for refunds for U.S. importers. Whether those refunds will materialize, and through what mechanism, is not yet certain. The ruling is clear, but the path to recovering that cash—and meeting filing deadlines—is anything but.
Will businesses actually get refunds?
Refund filing details are not yet known for various importers, including those in the consumer business space. The Supreme Court did not include refund mechanics in its ruling. U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent previously said refunds would be issued if required by the courts. President Donald Trump indicated his administration would fight the refunds in court. Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has discontinued collecting IEEPA tariffs effective Feb. 24.
What we know so far
- New Section 122 tariffs: President Trump signed an Executive Order on Feb. 20 to implement a temporary global tariff of 10% under Section 122 under the Trade Act of 1974 effective Feb. 24 for 150 days to immediately replace the expired IEEPA tariffs. Section 122 allows the president to impose short term surcharges to address large U.S. balance of payment deficits. There are questions as to whether these tariffs are justified given the current circumstances. However, any potential legal challenge would struggle to reach a final resolution before the tariffs expire. Carve outs exist for a broad range of products including pharmaceuticals, electronics, aerospace products, energy and certain agricultural goods. President Trump has indicated that he will increase this rate to 15%, the statutory maximum under Section 122, but it is unclear if and when that increase may occur.
- Section 301, Section 232 tariffs and the suspension of the de minimis exemption are not affected by the ruling: Many entries, especially consumer goods from China, had both IEEPA and Section 301 tariffs applied. Section 301, as well as Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs also remain in force, with downstream effects across a wide range of consumer products categories, from appliances to cookware and consumer electronics. Separately, the de minimis suspension for Chinese goods was not IEEPA-based and survives the ruling, meaning direct-from-China e-commerce competitors continue to face tariff obligations on low-value shipments.
- Potential interest on duty refunds: When CBP recalculates duties and issues refunds, it typically does so at the IRS underpayment rate (currently 5% to 6% annually per the Federal Register, Jan. 22, 2026). For multi-million-dollar refunds, that interest can be significant.
- Interest depends on the path taken: The start date and applicable interest will depend on the legal mechanism used to pursue the refund.
- Unclear refund process: It remains uncertain whether the CBP will establish a voluntary administrative refund process or require importers to pursue claims through litigation.
- Importer action required: The burden of recovering funds will fall on importers that take affirmative steps now to preserve and pursue their claims.
Post-summary correction (PSC) vs. protest
The usual refund mechanism available to an importer, while it is unclear if it will be allowed for this circumstance, depends entirely on one variable: whether their customs entries have liquidated. Liquidation, the CBP’s finalization of the duty amount on an entry, typically occurs 314 days after the date of entry. Entries from February through April 2025 have almost certainly liquidated. Those from May through October 2025 are in a mixed state. Entries from November 2025 onward are largely still open.
For unliquidated entries, importers may request their customs broker to submit PSCs for each entry that removes the IEEPA-specific Chapter 99 HTS lines from the entry summary and sets the duty to zero. While PSCs are generally used to correct clerical errors, and CBP has not yet confirmed this mechanism applies to IEEPA refund claims, customs brokers may file them now to protect the importer’s refund rights while guidance is pending. The window is 300 days from the date of entry, or 15 days before the scheduled liquidation date, whichever comes first, according to CBP. That window is closing on every entry, every day. Importers with entries approaching liquidation must file PSCs immediately.
For liquidated entries, businesses may file formal protests for each entry under 19 U.S.C. §1514, within 180 days of the liquidation date. However, there is a significant legal wrinkle. The Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled in December 2025 that IEEPA duties may be non-protestable ministerial acts, meaning the CBP could deny protests outright on procedural grounds. Regardless, importers should consider filing protests anyway to preserve their refund rights, while simultaneously considering a parallel action in the CIT under 28 U.S.C. §1581(i), which carries a two-year statute of limitations from the date the duties were published (Feb. 7 and April 7, 2025).
What businesses should do now
- Obtain an ACE account with CBP: Gain direct, secure access to complete import transaction records. Enroll in CBP’s mandatory ACH Refund program (effective Feb. 6, 2026) by submitting U.S. banking details, to receive refunds.
- Run your ACE report immediately: Pull all IEEPA tariff-related entries with HTS codes beginning with 9903.01.xx (fentanyl tariffs) and 9903.02.xx (reciprocal tariffs). Quantify the duty paid on each line.
- Categorize by liquidation status: Flag entries as: (a) unliquidated – PSC eligible; (b) liquidated within 180 days – eligible for protest; (c) liquidated beyond 180 days – CIT litigation only. Each category requires a different response.
- Compile supporting documentation: Gather customs entry documentation, including customs entries, entry summaries, commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading and proof of tariff payment.
- If CBP announces that PSCs should be utilized, custom brokers should file them for all unliquidated entries: Entries within 60 days of their scheduled liquidation date are the highest priority. Once the 15-day cutoff before liquidation passes, there is no option for an extension.
- Importers should file protective protests on all liquidated entries still within the 180-day window: Even if the CBP ultimately denies the protests, this action preserves the right to escalate to the CIT.
- Consider engaging customs counsel on CIT protective actions for any entries outside the protest window: The two-year statute of limitations from the tariff publication dates, Feb. 7, 2025, for China/Canada/Mexico duties, and April 7, 2025, for reciprocal tariffs, is the last backstop.
- Consider requesting accelerated liquidation: If PSCs are a viable mechanism for tariff recovery, accelerated liquidation requests CBP to compress the processing of the PSC changes to approximately two weeks, potentially providing access to refunds sooner.
This work typically involves your customs broker for PSC filing and outside customs counsel for protest and CIT actions.
The liquidation clock is the real risk
The IEEPA collections that occurred from May through October 2025 correspond to entries now either just liquidated or are in the final weeks before liquidation. Entries from that window represent the largest total refund opportunity and the tightest procedural deadlines simultaneously. For the vast majority of importers, PSC and protest actions may be the primary avenue, with CIT escalation as a fallback, though the CBP has not yet announced the mechanism that should be used.
The bottom line
Even in the best-case scenario, the refund process is expected to be slow, contested and administratively intensive. Companies that build a complete entry dataset now and are ready to act quickly if and when the mechanisms for refunds are announced stand to recover the most. Those who wait will likely recover the least.
RSM US contributor: Jodi Ader.
For more, check out our outlooks for the following sectors: consumer goods, food and beverage, and retail and restaurant.
