Businesses starting to receive their IEEPA tariff refunds
Businesses across the United States have started receiving federal reimbursements Tuesday for tariffs imposed by President Trump in 2025 and overturned by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
Sarah Wells, whose small business makes accessories and clothing for breastfeeding mothers, told CBS News that about half of the money owed to her by the U.S. government has been deposited into her bank account.
In April, Wells filed reimbursement requests of two different tariffs his company imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) – one for a shipment from China and the other for goods it imported from Cambodia.
The Supreme Court ruled in February that Mr. Trump does not have legal authority to impose tariffs under the IEEPA.
“My refund request had been accepted and I had been feverishly checking its status to see if there was anything in my bank account,” she told CBS News. “Earlier this morning, around 7 a.m., I received the money from the first container from China.”
Courtesy of Sarah Wells 
Wells said the refund was $10,000, which covers the 20 percent customs duty she paid on the goods, plus interest. She expects an additional $10,000 in federal payment for other IEEPA rates absorbed by her company.
As of 7 a.m. ET Monday, the federal government said it had approved nearly 87,000 refund requests covering more than 15 million IEEPA fee payments. More than half of those entries have been finalized, amounting to $35.5 billion in refunds, including interest, CBP official Brandon Lord said in a filing with the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York.
Ryan Petersen, CEO of supply chain management company Flexport, told CBS News that as of Monday, the company’s customers had received a total of $137 million in IEEPA tariff refunds from the U.S. government.
“I’m quite impressed that the government has built and launched this technology quite quickly,” he said. “Many government deadlines can be much longer than that.”
The Trump administration owes importers about $166 billion in refunds.
Imports remain subject to 10% tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump in February under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. In March, the White House also investigations announced on the trade practices of foreign countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes U.S. trade officials to retaliate unilaterally against countries engaging in unfair trade practices.
“We have a production order in Cambodia coming in July or August that we will have to pay 10 percent on, and possible Section 301 tariffs could be put in place,” Wells said, adding that “we are in a cycle where we have to plan for contingencies.”
