Amazon Sellers: You May Be Owed a Tariff Refund — Here's How to Claim It

If you imported inventory in 2025 — from China, Vietnam, India, or anywhere else — there's a good chance the U.S. government owes you money. On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. That ruling invalidated a sweeping set of tariffs imposed throughout 2025, and the refund process is now underway.

The scale is significant: approximately $166–170 billion in IEEPA duties across 53 million import entries, covering 330,000+ importers. The federal claims portal — called CAPE — is expected to launch around April 20, 2026. If you don't act before key deadlines, you could forfeit your refund entirely.

This guide covers what Amazon private label sellers need to know: what's refundable, what isn't, how to claim, and what deadlines to watch.

What Tariffs Are Being Refunded?

The refunds apply specifically to IEEPA tariffs — the set imposed under emergency powers authority starting in early 2025. These are distinct from other tariff types that remain in effect. Understanding the difference is critical before you calculate what you're owed.

IEEPA tariffs being refunded (all countries):

• "Fentanyl" tariffs — first imposed February 4, 2025 (initially 10%, later 20% on Chinese goods)
• "Trafficking" tariffs imposed on select countries
• "Reciprocal" tariffs imposed April 2, 2025 (the broad country-by-country tariffs)
• "Baseline" universal tariffs imposed under IEEPA authority
• Select IEEPA tariffs on goods from Brazil and India

NOT being refunded (separate legal authorities, still in effect):

• Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods (the 7.5%–25% rates from the original trade war — these remain)
• Section 232 tariffs (steel and aluminum)
• Section 201 tariffs (solar panels, washing machines)
• Most-Favored Nation (MFN) base tariff rates
• Anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD)

How Much Could You Recover?

It depends on your import volume, the countries you sourced from, and the specific tariff codes on your goods. For a private label seller who brought in $500,000 worth of inventory from Vietnam in Q2 2025 — when reciprocal tariffs were running at 46% under IEEPA — the refundable portion could be substantial. The government is also paying 6% annual interest on the refund amounts, which accrues from the date duties were paid.

To get an accurate number, pull your Customs Form 7501 (Entry Summary) for each shipment you imported in 2025. Your customs broker should have these, or you can access them directly through CBP's ACE portal. The duty amounts and tariff codes on each entry tell you exactly what was paid under which authority.

The CAPE Refund System: How It Works

CBP designed a four-component system called CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries) to process refunds at scale. Here's what each stage involves:

1. 1Claim Portal — You upload a CSV spreadsheet listing all entry summaries that included IEEPA tariffs
2. 2Mass Processing — CBP's system automatically recalculates duties with IEEPA codes removed
3. 3Review/Liquidation — Entries are automatically reliquidated at the corrected duty amounts
4. 4Refund Component — Refunds are issued via ACH direct deposit to your registered bank account

Phase 1 of CAPE (launching ~April 20, 2026) covers approximately 63% of affected entries — specifically the unliquidated entries and those without complicating factors like anti-dumping duties or open protests. Phase 2 will handle more complex cases.

Step-by-Step: What You Need to Do Before April 20

Don't wait for the portal to open before taking these steps — several require 3–4 weeks of setup time that you need to start now.

Step 1: Update your CBP Importer of Record information

Log into CBP's system and verify that CBP Form 5106 (your importer record) has your current, correct email address. This email is used for portal authentication. If you've changed email providers or the address is outdated, update it immediately — this step alone can delay your claim by weeks if left undone.

Step 2: Create or verify your ACE Portal account

The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal is where you'll access your entry data and file your claim. If you don't have an ACE account, register now — setup takes 3–4 weeks. If your customs broker filed on your behalf, confirm whether you have direct access or need to request data exports from them.

Step 3: Enroll in ACH refund

As of February 6, 2026, CBP no longer issues paper checks. All duty refunds are electronic ACH transfers. If you're not enrolled in ACH refund, you won't receive payment even if your claim is approved. Enroll through your ACE account.

Step 4: Pull all your 2025 entry summaries

In ACE, download every entry summary from February 2025 through the present. Cross-reference each against the IEEPA tariff codes your customs broker applied. Your broker can also provide a summary of which entries included IEEPA-specific duty lines.

Step 5: Check liquidation status for each entry

Liquidation status determines which claims pathway applies. Unliquidated entries (those not yet finalized by CBP) go through Phase 1 CAPE automatically. Liquidated entries have two options: file a formal protest within 180 days of the liquidation date, or file a Post-Summary Correction (PSC) within 300 days of the entry date.

Step 6: File your claim through CAPE on or after April 20

When the portal opens, upload your CSV of qualifying entry summaries. CBP will process and issue refunds via ACH. Monitor CBP's Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) for updates on processing timelines.

Critical Deadlines — Don't Miss These

• Protest deadline: 180 days from the liquidation date of each entry — missing this permanently bars that claim
• Post-Summary Correction deadline: 300 days from entry date, and at least 15 days before scheduled liquidation
• Court of International Trade litigation deadline: February 3, 2027 (for importers who may need to sue to recover)
• Section 122 replacement tariffs (if Congress enacted any): July 24, 2026 expiration

What If You Paid Tariffs Through a Freight Forwarder or Broker?

This is where it gets complicated for some sellers. If your freight forwarder or customs broker — such as FedEx Logistics or UPS — acted as the importer of record on your behalf, only they have legal standing to file for refunds directly with CBP. You'd need them to either file the claim and pass the refund to you, or assign you the refund rights.

This situation has already produced lawsuits. As of late February 2026, class action cases were filed against FedEx Logistics, UPS, and EssilorLuxottica in federal courts in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. The core allegation: these companies collected tariff duties from customers, also charged extra processing fees on top, and are now in a position to receive government refunds while customers have no direct recourse to CBP.

FedEx publicly stated it plans to return government refunds — but made no legally binding commitment, and said nothing about refunding its own processing fees. If you used a freight forwarder as your importer of record in 2025, contact them directly now to understand how they're handling refund pass-through, and document that conversation in writing.

Duty Drawback: A Parallel Recovery Path

Separate from the IEEPA refund process, duty drawback under 19 U.S.C. § 1313 allows importers to recover up to 99% of customs duties on goods that are subsequently exported or destroyed. Three categories apply:

• Manufacturing drawback: duties on imported components incorporated into products you then exported
• Unused merchandise drawback: duties on imported goods exported in the same condition
• Rejected merchandise drawback: duties on goods returned to the foreign supplier

Drawback claims must be filed within five years of the importation date and typically take 6–18 months to process. Note that entries filed under drawback are excluded from Phase 1 CAPE — you choose one path or the other for each entry.

Fraud Warning: Verify Who You're Working With

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has explicitly warned importers that fraudulent tariff refund schemes are proliferating post-ruling. Bad actors are soliciting importers with offers to "process your refund" for an upfront fee or a large percentage of the recovery.

Only work with licensed customs brokers with a CBP license number you can verify. The refund process through CAPE is free — CBP charges no filing fees. If someone is asking for payment to submit your claim, walk away.

Tax Treatment of Refunds

One issue many sellers will overlook: the tax treatment of tariff refunds depends on how you treated the original duty expenses. If you deducted tariff costs as a business expense in your 2025 return, a refund in 2026 is likely taxable income in 2026. If you capitalized the tariffs into your inventory cost basis, the accounting treatment is more complex. Talk to your accountant or CPA before assuming refunds are tax-free — they aren't always.

What to Do Right Now

Given that the CAPE portal opens around April 20 and some deadlines are already running, here's the priority order:

1. 1Contact your customs broker today — ask for a summary of all 2025 entries, which included IEEPA tariff lines, the duty amounts paid under each, and the liquidation status of each entry
2. 2Verify your CBP Form 5106 and ACE portal access — don't let admin setup delay your claim
3. 3Enroll in ACH refund if you haven't already
4. 4If any entries have already been liquidated for 90+ days, calculate your protest deadline and confirm you're within the 180-day window
5. 5If you used a freight forwarder as importer of record, get written confirmation of how they're handling refund pass-through
6. 6Flag this for your accountant so the refunds are handled correctly in your 2026 books

The total refunds owed to U.S. importers — $166+ billion — dwarf any prior customs refund program in American history. For comparison, the Harbor Maintenance Tax refund program of the 1990s took four years to process $730 million across 100,000 claims. No one should expect this to be fast. But importers who take the steps above are positioned to receive refunds ahead of the backlog. Those who wait may find themselves behind months of processing queues — or worse, past a deadline they didn't know they had.

Share this article

Facebook

LinkedIn

X

ThreadsCopy link