The process to recover tariffs in the United States continues and has already faced its first challenges. However, the enthusiasm of companies to obtain their refund has not decreased, only because the fact that a significant portion has been rejected in their applicationboth due to errors in the system and due to doubts in the procedure that have not been resolved favorably.
Since the launch of the portal on April 20, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has received more than 75,000 refund requests. However, about 15% have been rejectedwhich shows the initial challenges of this program aimed at importers and companies.
According to information presented before the International Trade Court, More than 47,000 applications were correctly entered, covering around 11 million tariff payments. These data were confirmed by Brandon Lord, an agency official.
The system used, called the Consolidated Entry Administration and Processing System (CAPE), was created to comply with a court order following the Supreme Court ruling that struck down emergency tariffs imposed during the Donald Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
What’s behind the rejections?
One of the main factors that explain rejections is lack of knowledge of the program criteria. In this first phase, The system only accepts requests for tariffs already finalized or estimates that can still be determinedas long as they meet specific conditions.
“There are parameters, and I imagine some of the requests are outside of that scope,” Prick Richards, a partner at the neutral firm Greenspoon Marder, told CBS Data. “Some companies are probably making mistakes in filing their claims.”
This implies that Not all payments qualify for refundespecially if they are not directly linked to the applicable legal provisions.
Despite the inconveniences that have been reported since the first days, The authorities maintain that the system operates stably. According to CBP, the portal only experienced a brief outage on the day it launched.
“Since the opening of CAPE on April 20, 2026, the only time the functionality was unavailable was for a period of 18 minutes“said CBP official Brandon Lord. “This occurred to reconfigure resources and optimize declaration processing.”
Even specialists have recognized the speed with which the platform was implemented, considering the technical complexity involved in managing thousands of requests in a short time.
“I was surprised by the speed with which Customs launched this portal, so my respects to them,” said Prick Richards. “They’ve done an incredible job implementing it.”
Problems for companies
On a practical level, Some employers face technical difficulties that prevent them from completing their applications. This can delay the recovery of important resources for your operations. For example, Beth Benike, co-founder of the company Busy Child, said she was unable to apply due to an error in her account.
“I’m getting an error that says my tax ID is linked to someone else’s account,” Benike told CBS Data. “I have spent hours on hold with officials, which takes away time from operating my business.”
The businesswoman estimates that the government owes her close to $50,000 dollarsand although he is confident that he will receive the refund, he anticipates a long process.
“I think I will eventually receive the money, but it will be several months before I see it,” he said.
For many businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones, These delays can represent a financial challenge that could involve your very existence..
And the consumers?
Because of the way companies can prove the costs incurred by the Trump administration’s tariffs, Consumers will depend on each company to know if they could expect reimbursement for their expenses. Some specialists have suggested that this could be something impossible to establish, but in the interest of loyalty with their customers, they estimate that it is likely that companies will resort to special discounts that make them feel that they have recovered part of their money spent on past purchases.
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