Customs and Border Protection can’t comply with order

CBP in the same court filing told Judge Richard Eaton that the total amount of so-called IEEPA tariffs collected as of Wednesday by the agency and estimated duty deposits related to such tariffs “is approximately $166 billion.”

The filing came as Eaton was set to hold a hearing on the refund issue at the Court of International Trade in New York City. Eaton has been designated as the only CIT judge who will hear cases from importers seeking refunds on Trump’s tariffs.

Brandon Lord, executive director of the trade programs directorate at CBP’s Office of Trade, in the filing said that as of Wednesday, more than 330,000 importers have made a total of over 53 million
entries “in which they have deposited or paid duties imposed pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.”

Eaton on Wednesday ordered CPB to calculate the cost of bringing in shipments into the United States without assessing a tariff, and told the agency to make refunds to importers who had paid the IEEPA tariffs, with interest.

“Customs knows how to do this,” Eaton said during a court hearing on Wednesday. “They do it every day. They liquidate entries and make refunds.”

Many importers have sued the Trump administration seeking refunds of tariffs they have paid since last year that were deemed illegal.

Eaton’s order on the refunds was issued in a lawsuit filed by one of those importers, Atmus Filtration, but it applies to every duty that was paid in connection with the IEEPA tariffs.

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