The Trump administration says it cannot process the tariff refund due to computer problems

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it currently cannot comply with an order to process billions of dollars in refunds stemming from tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. in Deposit on FridayThe agency’s digital import processing system is “not well suited to a mission of this magnitude,” says Brandon Lord, executive director of Customs and Border Protection. As CNBC reported earlier.

The acceptance by Customs and Border Protection comes after The Supreme Court struck down the tariffs Trump imposed them under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) last month. The International Trade Court ruled this week that importers were affected by the tariffs They are entitled to recover the amounts with interest. CBP estimates it has collected about $166 billion in IEEPA fees as of March 4, 2026.

Companies like Nintendo, fedexand Costco Lawsuits have been filed against the United States government in the Court of International Trade, seeking recovery of tariffs that the Supreme Court deemed “unlawful.”

CBP says it currently processes imports through its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system. In the filing, Lord says that using the department’s current technology, it would take more than 4.4 million hours to process refunds for more than 53.2 million entries with IEEPA duties. Despite these current limitations, CBP says it is “confident” in its ability to develop and launch new capabilities to “simplify and standardize refunds and interest payments on an importer basis” — but this could take 45 days.

“The process will be simpler and more efficient than current functions, and CBP will provide guidance on how to file refund returns in the new system,” Lord says.