CBP Says It Cannot Stop Processing Tariff Payments Without System Overhaul

Key Details U.S. Customs and Border Protection told a federal judge on March 6 that it cannot comply with a court order to halt tariff calculations on import entries. Judge Richard Eaton of the federal trade court in New York had ordered CBP to stop processing tariffs after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump's emergency tariffs illegal last month. Why It Matters CBP official Brandon Lord stated in court filings that the agency's automated system processes hundreds of thousands of import entries weekly and cannot selectively remove billions in collected tariffs from individual entries. The agency argues its existing technology and procedures cannot handle the unprecedented volume of refunds now owed to importers. The Challenge Ahead Lord warned that removing IEEPA tariffs from each entry would require extensive manual work and divert personnel from trade enforcement duties. CBP currently cannot prevent additional entries from being liquidated without the tariff amounts included, creating a bottleneck in the refund process. What Drivers Should Know Nearly 170 billion dollars in IEEPA tariffs remain in question regarding when and how importers will receive refunds. The dispute centers on the technical feasibility of separating tariff data from the customs liquidation process, which could significantly impact shipping costs and logistics expenses for trucking companies.