New York businesses can seek Trump tariff refunds; Hochul demands White House repay consumers $1,700 per household

The refund process was launched on April 20 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which said importers of record and authorized customs brokers can file claims through the agency’s ACE trade portal under a new system known as CAPE.

In its first phase, the process is limited to certain unliquidated entries and some entries liquidated within the past 80 days. Valid refunds generally should be issued within 60 to 90 days after a claim is accepted, the agency said.

Speaking in Buffalo on April 20, Hochul pointed to the start of that federal process and said it could return more than $166 billion in tariff payments collected nationwide. She argued that while the first round of refunds is aimed at businesses that directly paid the tariffs, New Yorkers who paid more at the store should not be left out.

“It’s an important first step,” Hochul said. “But remember, every day New Yorkers also paid the price.”

“Those tariffs were nothing more than attacks on the American people, the American people who are begging for relief from the cost of inflation, the cost of gasoline going up now, and then they had to deal with the effects of the Trump administration-imposed tariffs that made everything cost more,” Hochul added.

Hochul said New Yorkers absorbed an estimated $13.5 billion in added costs from the tariffs, or roughly $1,700 for the average family, and said the state would keep pressing in court for relief for households, farmers, and small businesses.

“This is not done voluntarily by the Trump administration, but they still owe New York families $1,700. They deserve their money back, and we’re going to continue fighting for that, and we’re in court to secure that as well. So I just wanted to put that out there today,” said Hochul. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks in Buffalo on Monday about the start of a federal process allowing businesses to seek refunds for tariffs the U.S. Supreme Court found were imposed illegally. Hochul said New York families also deserve relief for higher costs tied to the tariffs.Photo by Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

Under CBP guidance, only the importer of record or an authorized customs broker may file a CAPE declaration, and the first phase does not cover every case. More complicated scenarios are expected to be handled in later phases.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Feb. 20 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 did not give the president authority to impose the sweeping tariffs at issue, siding with challenges brought by New York and 11 other states.

The ruling forced the federal government to establish a process for returning the tariff revenue collected under that authority.

The Tax Foundation, a Washington-based tax policy nonprofit, estimated in a recent report that the tariffs amounted to an average tax increase of about $1,000 per U.S. household in 2025.

It is also estimated that tariffs still in place in 2026 would add about $600 more per household this year.