U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated in court documents filed Tuesday that the total amount of invalid tariff potential and certified refunds processed through its dedicated portal has approached $85 billion. The portal, named the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), has completed approximately $20.6 billion in certified refunds with interest since its launch on April 20, as of May 22, and has transferred them to the Treasury for disbursement.

CBP also noted that 4,185 consolidated refunds could not be sent to the Treasury because importers or their authorized refund and notice receiving companies did not provide Automated Clearing House (ACH) account information.

This latest data means that CBP has processed refunds exceeding half of its estimated $166 billion in invalid tariffs. Nevertheless, many importers are still waiting for processing. CBP acknowledged that it still cannot process entries that have been finally liquidated, despite previously stating it was developing that capability.

According to CBP, more than 15.85 million entries involving tariffs have been accepted through CAPE for tariff removal, tariffs that were ruled illegally imposed by the Supreme Court in March. Of these, over 8.51 million have been liquidated or reliquidated without the invalid tariffs.

Additionally, more than 3.48 million entries submitted through CAPE failed entry-level validation. The main reasons for failure include: entries exceeding CBP's 90-day reliquidation authority, or entries already included in previous CAPE submissions. The third major rejection reason was the absence of a special tariff code—used to collect tariffs later ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, which were imposed by former President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

As of May 22, importers and customs brokers had sent 157,402 refund filings through CAPE, of which 108,760 passed CBP's initial checks. Common reasons for filing-level rejections include: importer or filer mismatches, incorrect entry numbers, and CSV files not conforming to the template format published by the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). ACE is CBP's primary electronic system for processing import and export data.

In the latest filing, CBP revised its earlier reported expected refund amount for liquidated entries downward from $35.46 billion to $25.46 billion. CBP stated that the previous overstatement was due to a data query error, not an actual CAPE processing issue.

Several companies have incorporated potential tariff refunds into their annual financial plans. Ford Motor Company expects to receive $1.3 billion in refunds, while General Motors expects $500 million. Other companies such as Williams-Sonoma and PVH Corp. (parent of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger) remain on the sidelines, not yet including potential refunds in their financial forecasts.

Some companies are also preparing to refund tariff shares already paid by partners and customers. Candy maker Bazooka plans to share refunds with suppliers but has not yet determined the specific method. FedEx, UPS, and DHL Express stated that once they receive tariff refunds for eligible shipments, they will return the funds to the customers who originally paid.