Following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Court of International Trade directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to refund IEEPA tariffs to the importers that paid them. While CBP has proposed to create a system for issuing such refunds, it requested additional time to do so. It therefore remains unclear when refunds may become available and precisely what steps importers will have to follow to obtain them.
Amid the uncertainty of this fluid situation, ST&R continues to advise that importers should first continue to monitor the dates of liquidation of their affected entries and to file timely protests with CBP to ensure this potential path of recovery remains available.
ST&R continues to believe there is no immediate need for importers to file their own lawsuits at the CIT. The court may still instruct CBP to handle refunds administratively, potentially negating the need to initiate litigation. Even if it does become necessary to file in court, importers have up to two years from the date of entry under 28 USC 1581(i) (or, more conservatively, from the date of the applicable executive orders) to do so, meaning the earliest deadlines would be in January or February 2027.
At the same time, strategic and business considerations may support an importer’s decision to file suit sooner than later. For example, going to court may no longer be perceived as contesting the federal government’s tariff authority, and the government could even resist refunding tariffs to those who have not filed timely court actions. In addition, more individual lawsuits (the number of which is already in the thousands and accelerating) could more urgently prompt the CIT to direct, or CBP to construct, a more streamlined refund process. On a practical level, it may make sense to file now because the path to recovering refunds might not fully be resolved by February 2027, the cost to file compared to the amount of possible recovery may be low, and importers filing later could find themselves at “the back of the line” for potential refunds.
We also note that filing at the CIT does not jeopardize, nor should delay, possible future administrative relief if the protest process is ultimately utilized. Further, if protest deadlines are missed, judicial action must be considered because it may be an importer’s only path to assert a refund claim.
For more information on your options, please reach out to attorneys Jason Kenner at (212) 549-0137 or David Cohen at (202) 730-4955. You can also contact us at messages@strtrade.com or via your usual ST&R contact.
Copyright © 2026 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.