US Developing New Tariff Refund System That Could Be Ready in 45 Days

Washington– A US government agency is developing a new system to simplify the tariff refund process, which could be operational within 45 days, according to a report. The move comes as many companies are seeking refunds of emergency tariffs imposed during the administration of Donald Trump that were struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States last month.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is working on a streamlined refund process that will require minimal documentation from importers. The development was disclosed by Brandon Lord, executive director of CBP’s trade policy and programs directorate, in a filing with the U.S. Court of International Trade, according to a report by the Associated Press cited by Yonhap news agency.

Under the emergency tariff programme, CBP collected around $166 billion in duties from more than 330,000 importers.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that had been invoked to justify country-specific “reciprocal” tariffs and other levies. However, the ruling did not specify how refunds should be processed.

In his filing, Lord estimated that processing refunds through the current system would require more than 4.4 million man-hours, highlighting the complexity of the existing mechanism.

“This new process will require minimal submission from importers,” Lord said, as quoted in the report.

Following the court’s decision, the Trump administration has been working to replace the emergency tariffs with new duties under different legal provisions.

On February 24, the administration began imposing a 10 per cent global tariff under Section 122, with the rate expected to rise to 15 per cent.

At the same time, it is also using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to conduct trade investigations. Jamieson Greer, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), said these investigations are expected to cover most major trading partners. Section 301 allows the USTR to investigate alleged unfair trade practices on a country-by-country basis.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s foreign ministry announced that a chartered flight will evacuate its citizens from the United Arab Emirates amid rising tensions in the Middle East. A 290-seat aircraft operated by Etihad Airways is scheduled to depart from Abu Dhabi at noon on Sunday (local time).

—With inputs from IANS