(AURN News) — A major court battle over tariff refunds is turning into a logistical crisis for the federal government. In a sworn filing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it cannot quickly carry out a federal court order requiring refunds of tariffs imposed under emergency powers.
According to CBP, more than 330,000 importers paid those tariffs on more than 53 million shipments, totaling about $166 billion. Roughly 20 million entries still have not been finalized.
The agency said processing refunds manually would take about 4.4 million labor hours, and its current system can handle only 10,000 entries at a time.
Officials also said many filings bundle multiple tariffs together, meaning staff must calculate refunds individually. CBP said it is now racing to build an automated system and estimates it could be ready in about 45 days.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
