The U.S. Court of International Trade (USCIT) on May 27 ordered the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to appear at a hearing in June regarding the Trump administration’s handling of tariff refunds, reports The New York Times. 

Businesses are owed an estimated $166 billion, after tariffs implemented by President Donal Trump in 2025 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were deemed illegal earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court. In April, the CBP's Office of Trade announced it had set up a Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, to handle the refunds.

Richard K. Eaton, a judge on the USCIT, has indicated concern that the government has not fully complied with a directive to return all of the money amassed under those duties. In a separate filing, Eaton also cited concern about “millions” of entries for which the government has “not presented a proposal” for providing refunds.

The Times said the USCIT’s demand for Commissioner Rodney S. Scott to appear could presage another round of intense legal wrangling between the U.S. government and importers over the extent of the president’s trade powers. 

So far, judges on the federal trade court have repeatedly found against Trump, most recently ruling that his replacement tariffs — a 10% rate imposed on most foreign goods — also violated the law. That case is on appeal, and the USCIT's ruling only blocks Trump's Section 122 tariffs for small businesses and plaintiffs that sued the administration, while the levies can remain in place for all other importers through July, pending the appeal. But if the strikedown holds, it could add to the amount owed in refunds.

Meanwhile, at least one high-profile participant in the wrangle over tariffs says the process is proceeding as promised, so far. A spokesperson for toy company Learning Resources, one of the two companies that took the case against Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, told SupplyChainBrain on May 27 that it had “successfully received $10 million from the CAPE process,” and that all of their phase one IEEPA claim submissions were now fully paid, including interest. 

On May 27, the CBP said more than $20 billion is now "on its way" back to importers.