President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will "remember" companies that opt not to seek refunds for tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled were illegal — remarks that came a day after the government opened a portal for businesses to file claims.
Asked on CNBC whether companies such as Apple $AAPL and Amazon $AMZN had avoided submitting refund requests out of concern about offending him, Trump said, "Brilliant if they don't do that." He added: "If they don't do that, I'll remember them."
Trump also reiterated his frustration with the 6-3 Supreme Court decision that voided his sweeping tariffs. "I'm not happy with the Supreme Court, I'll be honest with you," he said, complaining that the ruling did not include language exempting already-collected duties from repayment.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched its refund portal — called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE — on April 20. The system allows importers to submit claims for duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. CBP has said valid refunds will be issued within 60 to 90 days of a claim's acceptance.
Not all businesses have been able to access the system smoothly. Some importers reported error messages and technical problems on the portal's first day, according to CBS News. Learning Resources CEO Rick Woldenberg told CBS News that an error message greeted his company's attempt to file a refund claim — "The system is currently experiencing high volume, please try again later" — and described the portal as having gone "blinky," suggesting the volume of traffic had proved too much for it to handle.
Major retailers stand to recover significant sums. Roughly $80 million in duty repayments is anticipated by Levi Strauss, a figure its CFO Harmit Singh shared with CNBC, stemming from tariffs the apparel company paid on imported denim and other goods. Katrina O'Connell, Gap $GPS's finance chief, said the retailer has yet to build any refund benefit into its financial outlook, noting in a quote to CNBC that "the situation is fluid right now as to how, when, or whether any refunds will ultimately be realized."
The refund process is the result of the Supreme Court's February ruling striking down the IEEPA tariffs as executive overreach. The court did not address refunds directly, leaving that question to lower courts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent subsequently called refunds "corporate welfare," and Trump described them as an "undeserved windfall." A federal judge later ordered the administration to begin laying the groundwork for repayment.
More than 2,000 companies sued the Trump administration in hopes of recovering duties they paid, and CBP recorded about 53 million tariff entries spanning goods such as toys, furniture, clothing, and automobiles. CBP figures show that registered importers eligible to participate numbered roughly 56,497 as of April 14, and the agency has identified approximately $127 billion in qualifying duties — including interest — that could be returned through the portal.