A small-business owner who imports kitchen supplies spent two days trying to file a tariff refund claim through the federal government’s new online portal. She couldn’t figure out which tariff codes to enter or what format Customs and Border Protection wanted for proof of payment. She eventually hired a customs broker for $1,200 to recover a $4,300 refund, as she told the Associated Press.
She is not alone. Since CBP opened its centralized refund portal, known as CAPE, in late April 2026, roughly one in seven claims has already been denied. The agency confirmed to Bloomberg News that 15% of submitted entries were rejected. For the thousands of importers who paid tariffs later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, the portal was supposed to be a straightforward path to getting their money back. For many, it has been anything but.
How the refund portal came about
The CAPE portal exists because of the Supreme Court’s March 2026 ruling in National Foreign Trade Council v. United States. In that case, the Court found that certain tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) exceeded the president’s executive authority. IEEPA, a 1977 law originally designed to let the president freeze assets and block transactions during national emergencies, had been used to impose broad import duties on goods from multiple countries. The Court ruled that stretching the statute to cover tariffs went beyond what Congress intended.
The decision meant that businesses which had paid those duties were owed refunds. CBP built the CAPE portal to handle the volume, opening it nationwide and accepting filings from both importers and licensed customs brokers. The agency’s public IEEPA FAQ page outlines eligibility criteria and documentation requirements. CBP has told applicants, according to news reports from Bloomberg and the Associated Press, that approved refunds could take 60 to 90 days to process. The agency’s FAQ page is currently the closest primary source for that timeline, though it does not specify the figure in those terms.
The total pool of money at stake has not been officially disclosed. News reports have referenced billions of dollars in IEEPA tariff collections, but CBP has not published a precise figure for the amount eligible for return through the portal. That lack of transparency has left businesses and trade groups working from rough estimates based on historical trade flows.
Why so many claims are failing
CBP has not publicly explained what is driving the 15% rejection rate. The agency has not released data breaking denials into categories such as incomplete documentation, ineligible entry types, or technical errors within the portal itself.
That gap matters. If claims are failing because applicants submitted the wrong paperwork, those filers can correct their mistakes and try again. If the portal’s design is filtering out legitimate claims through confusing interfaces or rigid formatting requirements, the problem is structural and won’t fix itself without changes from CBP.
A CBP spokesperson told Bloomberg that the agency “is committed to processing all eligible refund claims as quickly as possible” but declined to comment on specific denial reasons. The spokesperson directed claimants to the IEEPA FAQ page. As of late May 2026, CBP has not said whether denied applicants can refile, or whether there is a formal appeals process.
Small importers are hitting a wall
The complaints from small businesses follow a pattern that customs professionals say is familiar. Filing even a routine customs entry requires knowledge of tariff classification codes, entry numbers, and agency-specific formatting rules. The CAPE portal, according to importers and brokers who have used it, is no exception.
One licensed customs broker quoted by Bloomberg described the portal as “functional but clearly designed for people who already speak CBP’s language.” She said her firm had fielded dozens of calls from small importers who started filing claims and gave up partway through.
The economics make the frustration worse. A company that imported a few containers of goods and paid a few thousand dollars in duties faces a painful calculation: hire a customs broker or trade attorney at rates that can run $500 to $1,500 or more per filing, or attempt the portal alone and risk joining the 15% whose claims are denied. For the smallest importers, the cost of professional help can eat a significant share of the refund itself.
No trade association has yet published survey data quantifying how many small importers lack access to professional filing help. The accounts cited in this article come from the Associated Press and Bloomberg, not from original reporting. But the volume of complaints in published news coverage since the portal launched suggests the problem is widespread, not anecdotal.
What importers are doing before filing
Importers who have successfully filed claims have generally started by reviewing CBP’s IEEPA FAQ page to confirm whether their imports fall under the tariffs invalidated by the Supreme Court. Before opening the portal, businesses have gathered their entry numbers, import dates, tariff classification codes, and proof of duty payment, according to customs brokers quoted in news reports.
Brokers interviewed by Bloomberg and the AP have said that consulting a licensed customs broker or trade attorney before filing can help identify which entries qualify and how to structure the claim to match CBP’s technical requirements. Given the denial rate and the lack of public detail about why claims are failing, applicants should expect close scrutiny of their records.
Some importers who have filed without professional help have reported submitting a small batch of entries first to learn how the portal works before committing their full set of claims, according to trade forum discussions. That approach limits exposure to avoidable mistakes while the system is still new and CBP’s review standards are still becoming clear.
Trade groups have signaled interest in pushing for a simplified claims process, and congressional oversight hearings on the refund program have been discussed. Whether those efforts lead to changes in how CBP handles denials and communicates with applicants remains to be seen.
A refund system that works for most but not for the ones who need it most
The core facts as of late May 2026 are straightforward. The CAPE portal is open. CBP is paying approved refunds. Fifteen percent of claims have been denied, and the agency has not said why. The system is processing claims for importers who have the resources and expertise to navigate it.
But the businesses most likely to struggle with the portal are the same ones least able to absorb the cost of professional help or the loss of a denied claim. For a small importer who paid $3,000 or $5,000 in duties that the Supreme Court has said were illegal, the refund process is not a bureaucratic inconvenience. It is the difference between recovering money they are owed and writing it off. Whether CBP addresses the accessibility gap, or whether Congress forces the issue, will determine how many of those businesses actually get paid.
