The first wave of tariff refunds tied to the Trump administration’s overturned emergency trade duties has officially begun reaching American businesses, marking the start of what could become one of the largest customs repayment efforts in U.S. history after the Supreme Court invalidated tens of billions of dollars in import taxes earlier this year.
Heavy-truck manufacturer Oshkosh Corp. and toy maker Basic Fun confirmed Tuesday that they have begun receiving payments from the federal government tied to tariff refund claims filed after the Supreme Court’s landmark February ruling striking down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The refunds are part of an estimated $166 billion repayment process now underway across millions of shipments and hundreds of thousands of importers that paid duties under the invalidated tariff program.
Oshkosh Chief Financial Officer Matt Field told CNBC the Wisconsin-based manufacturer has started receiving “an initial portion” of its refund claims, though the company declined to disclose the total amount sought.
Meanwhile, Basic Fun, the Florida-based maker of Tonka trucks, Care Bears, and K’Nex, said it has received approximately $400,000 out of roughly $7.4 million in claims filed with the government.
“The issue is will the funds flow like a river or fire hose or like a stream or garden hose,” Basic Fun Chief Executive Jay Foreman told Reuters. “So far, the funds are trickling out but they have started.”
The repayments stem from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on February 20 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which ruled that the president lacked authority under the 1977 IEEPA statute to impose broad tariffs using emergency powers.
The decision invalidated multiple rounds of Trump-era emergency tariffs, including the sweeping reciprocal tariffs introduced in April 2025 that imposed a baseline 10% tariff on most countries, alongside higher country-specific duties. The ruling also struck down fentanyl-related tariffs that reached as high as 35% on certain Canadian imports and 25% on some Mexican goods.
The ruling immediately triggered a massive refund process now being administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
CBP launched a dedicated online claims system on April 20 known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries tool, or CAPE, to process what officials described in court filings as an “unprecedented” volume of refund requests.
A declaration filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York by CBP official Brandon Lord showed that as of May 11, the agency had received approximately 126,237 refund applications. Of those, 86,874 claims have already been approved, covering roughly 15.1 million eligible import entries.
CBP has so far finalized approximately 8.3 million shipments, calculating expected repayments totaling roughly $35.46 billion, including interest.
Court filings indicate that more than 330,000 importers paid the disputed duties across approximately 53 million shipments, generating roughly $166 billion in tariffs now subject to potential repayment.
Some of America’s largest retailers and consumer companies are expected to recover enormous sums.
Companies including Walmart, Target, Nike, Gap, and The Home Depot are believed to have major refund exposure tied to the invalidated tariffs. Costco, Revlon, and Bumble Bee Foods were among companies that proactively filed lawsuits seeking repayment before the Supreme Court ruling, placing them near the front of the reimbursement process.
The repayment effort, however, is already becoming politically contentious.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration intends to “fight” the repayment effort, creating fresh uncertainty around how quickly the federal government will process and release the remaining claims.
CBP has repeatedly warned federal courts that the scale of the refund operation is unlike anything the agency has handled before, noting that many existing customs systems were not designed to process claims at this volume and may require extensive manual review.
At the same time, the broader tariff battle remains far from resolved.
In a separate legal development Tuesday, a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated another round of Trump tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, reversing a lower-court decision that had struck them down.
Those tariffs — including the administration’s separate 10% universal tariff — are legally distinct from the IEEPA duties invalidated by the Supreme Court and therefore remain in effect while litigation continues. The Section 122 tariffs are currently scheduled to expire in late July unless Congress extends them.
The result has created a confusing split system for importers: businesses are simultaneously seeking refunds for invalidated emergency tariffs already paid while continuing to pay newer tariffs still surviving in court under separate statutory authority.
CBP has stated that valid refund claims will generally be paid within 60 to 90 days after approval, though officials warned more complicated filings could take significantly longer.
Trade attorneys say additional legal disputes may emerge over who ultimately benefits from the repayments, particularly in cases where manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, or suppliers absorbed portions of tariff costs at different stages of the supply chain.
For smaller businesses, the process remains slow and frustrating despite the first refunds beginning to arrive.
Beth Benike, co-founder of Minnesota-based baby products company Busy Baby, said she has still been unable to file claims because of technical access problems with the CAPE portal. Meanwhile, Dahlia Rizk, owner of Massachusetts-based children’s outerwear company Buckle Me Baby, said earlier this month that she expects approximately $66,000 in refunds, though she described the filing process as difficult and time-consuming.
The next major question for importers and investors is whether the current trickle of repayments becomes a rapid nationwide disbursement effort — or whether political resistance and administrative bottlenecks slow what could become one of the largest government refund operations ever tied to U.S. trade policy.
JBizNews Desk
© JBizNews.com. All rights reserved.
