April 20, 2026 – Businesses can now apply to get money back from tariffs implemented by the Trump administration that were recently struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In February, the court ruled against President Donald Trump’s across-the-board, 10-percent tariffs, as well as reciprocal tariffs applied to certain countries. Those tariffs were enacted in April 2025 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and since then many food and farm businesses have struggled with higher costs for imported goods and farm inputs.
Under the tariffs, food businesses that rely on ingredients or items that cannot be grown or replicated in the United States had to decide between covering the taxes on the imported goods or passing on costs to customers.
But on Monday, the federal government opened a portal for businesses to start applying for refunds. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will oversee the refund system, known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE).
Only companies that paid the tariffs are eligible to apply to get those funds back. Consumers who may have fronted the additional costs are not able to directly recoup losses.
In total, the government is expected to return more than $166 billion collected from the tariffs. The refunds could take 60 to 90 days.
Some small businesses that attempted to apply for the refund Monday reported challenges setting up accounts online to file the documents necessary for a refund, said Dan Anthony, executive director of We Pay the Tariffs, a coalition that advocates for small businesses. Other members of the coalition reported receiving error messages and delays with filing.
Laurei Sebestyen, co-owner of Idaho-based Mike’s Organic Curry Love, is one of the many small businesses seeking a refund. The business imports USDA Certified Organic curries, coconut cream, rice noodles, and more from Thailand. There’s not a clear, quality replacement in the United States for these items.
Sebestyen said the IEEPA tariffs have had a “significant” negative effect on the business’ daily operations and ability to grow. After these tariffs were announced, she said, they stopped ordering many products and had to pay tariffs on orders already in motion.
“The food business is tough, and margins are razor thin, especially for small brands, and something like tariffs can upend years, even decades, of hard work,” Sebestyen said in an email. “But we refuse to lower our quality, so raising prices is inevitable in this situation.”
Even if the refund process smooths out and dollars are returned to American businesses, the Trump administration has discussed implementing additional tariffs using other legal authorities. Anthony said in a statement that these could negate any of the refunds.
Sebestyen said she had been “cautiously optimistic” following the Supreme Court decision. But the announcement of future tariffs wiped that hoped away. (Link to this post.)
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