On February 20, 2026 the United States Supreme Court struck down the Trump Administration’s use of IEEPA Tariffs.
- The Supreme Court’s ruling does not rule on if or how tariffs which have already been collected will be refunded or not.
- The Court of International Trade has ordered U.S. Customs to refund all illegally collected tariffs.
What does this ruling not affect?
- This ruling does not affect tariffs imposed under different legal authorities such as Section 232 and 301 tariffs.
- Section 232 and 301 tariffs both require formal investigations that usually take several months to complete and implement. In general these tariffs have been upheld by the courts.
What happens next with tariffs?
- An official presidential proclamation was issued on February 20, 2026 imposing a 10% Global Tariff under Section 122. This tariff will be in effect as of February 24, 2026 at 12:01am Eastern Time. The tariffs expire at 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 24, 2026, unless they are formally extended by the U.S. Congress.
- Section 122 tariffs replace the former country specific tariff rates with a flat tariff rate for all countries. These tariffs are in addition to any applicable Section 232 or 301 tariffs, normal duty rates listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, merchandise possessing fees for all imports, and harbor maintenance fees for ocean imports.
What is happening in the lower courts after the SCOTUS ruling?
- On March 4 the CIT ordered CBP to liquidate unliquidated import entries without regard to IEEPA duties and to reliquidate any entries that have been liquidated but are not yet final. This applies to all importers and not just those who have filed suit in the CIT.
- CBP told the CIT in a March 6 filing that it is not currently prepared to proceed with court-ordered refunds of tariffs imposed under IEEPA but could have the Automated Commercial Environment programmed to do so within the next 45 days or so. CBP is working to reprogram ACE to pay importers a lump sum for all refunds and interest instead of processing 53 million separate entry-specific refunds.
- CBP is working to program refund capabilities into ACE. The expected timeline for the system to go live is from mid-April to the end of May, subject to change.
- REGISTER FOR AN ACE ACCOUNT NOW! This is the only way you will be able to obtain a refunds from CBP once they proceed with issuing refunds: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/automated/how-to-use-ace/portal-applying
PREPARE NOW FOR REFUNDS
Effective February 6, 2026, U.S. Customs moved to an all electronic refund system. They will no longer issue paper refund checks in the mail. It is important that all importers register for an ACE account so they may receive any possible refunds through the new refund system.
Please visit the U.S. Customs ACE Portal Page to apply: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/automated/how-to-use-ace/portal-applying
