US says 15% of reviewed tariff refund entries denied so far

US customs authorities have denied about 15% of import entries reviewed through a new tariff refund portal after businesses sought returns from tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court, according to a court filing Tuesday.

Thousands of US importers are seeking refunds from $166 billion in tariffs that were struck down after the Supreme Court ruled Feb. 20 that President Donald Trump unlawfully used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on goods entering the country.

The US Customs and Border Protection’s online portal went live April 20 to process refund requests.

Out of 13.3 million import entries that cleared an initial review, about 15% were denied as of April 26 for failing “entry-specific validations,” Brandon Lord, an executive director at Customs and Border Protection, said in an update filed with the US Court of International Trade in Manhattan.

Customs said importers can correct errors and refile their claims.

About 1.74 million approved entries are already in the refund process, according to the filing. Businesses and individuals paid the contested tariffs on around 53 million entries, earlier government data showed.

The agency previously said entries could be rejected if submitted data was not formatted properly, files were corrupted or the submitter was not the listed importer of record or the broker that filed the entry summaries.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling did not decide how refunds should be handled, leaving the issue to lower courts.​​​​​​​