Roughly $59 billion of the $166 billion in tariff refunds the government owes importers is still uncertified more than six months after the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs that generated it, and the next phase of the refund process has been paused with no restart date. The gap means businesses that absorbed higher import costs under the voided tariffs are still waiting on money U.S. Customs and Border Protection has already told a federal court it owes them. Because import costs get built into the price of goods on store shelves, how quickly that backlog clears has a direct bearing on the prices households have been paying since the tariffs first took effect.
The Uncertified Third of the Refund Pool
In an August 25, 2026 update to the Court of International Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that about $106.6 billion of the $166 billion in International Emergency Economic Powers Act duty refunds had been certified and sent to the Treasury Department, based on entries accepted through its CAPE processing system as of August 21, according to the agency’s own IEEPA duty refund page. Separately, CBP said about $132.5 billion in duties, spanning both certified refunds and claims still working through the pipeline, had already been accepted into CAPE by that date, which means the roughly $59 billion gap includes both entries stuck in ordinary processing and a distinct slice of claims that cannot even enter the system until Phase 3 reopens. That leaves close to $59 billion, or roughly a third of the total pool, either still moving through processing or waiting on a category of refund that has not yet reopened.
The $166 billion figure traces back to duties CBP collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act before the Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that the law never authorized the tariffs in the first place, a decision that applies to an estimated 330,000 importers who paid duties on more than 53 million entries, according to Fortune’s reporting on the refund rollout.
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Why the Next Phase Is Paused
The unresolved portion is concentrated in what CBP calls CAPE Phase 3, the stage built to handle entries that were already finally liquidated but that the Court of International Trade separately ordered the agency to reliquidate. CBP told the court on August 25 that it is delaying that phase’s launch while it adds validation steps meant to keep the reliquidation process from disturbing other duties tied to the same entries, according to a summary of the filing from customs broker J.M. Rodgers.
No new deployment date has been set, and CBP has not said how long the added testing will take. In the meantime, importers whose refunds fall into that finally-liquidated category have no active channel to file for the money, even though the government has already told a federal court the amount is owed and has already released comparable refunds through the program’s first two phases.
That two-tier system means an importer’s wait now depends heavily on how its entries were originally processed. An entry that was still open or liquidated recently generally moved through Phases 1 and 2 months ago; an entry that was already closed out and later flagged for reliquidation by the court is the one stuck behind Phase 3’s indefinite pause, regardless of how large the refund is or how long ago the underlying shipment arrived.
The Interest Clock Is Still Running
Refunds that have not yet gone out are not sitting still financially. Under federal law, CBP owes interest on IEEPA duty overpayments, generally 4.5% on the portion of an overpayment above $10,000 and 6% on smaller balances, according to figures cited in Fortune’s August 21 coverage of the refund program, which means the government’s total liability keeps growing the longer certification and disbursement take.
That dynamic cuts against the idea that a delay is free for the government. Every additional month the roughly $59 billion sits uncertified is a month in which interest keeps accruing on top of the underlying duty, adding to the eventual bill even before Phase 3 has a restart date, let alone a completion date.
The Money Is Owed to Importers, Not Shoppers
Even the $59 billion still uncertified belongs to businesses, not to the households that paid more at checkout while the tariffs were in effect. CBP sends refunds to the importer of record, the company that filed the entry and paid the tariff directly, and the government has no program that sends a check to individual consumers, according to CBS News’ guide to how the refunds work.
A handful of shipping companies have chosen to pass savings on to customers voluntarily as refunds arrive, but shoppers in multiple states have sued retailers arguing they should not be able to keep both the earlier price increase and the government’s refund. Until those cases are resolved, most of the money still moving through CAPE will stay with the businesses that paid it rather than the people who bought the goods it was attached to.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire editorial team.
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Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
