U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Halt IEEPA Tariff Collections Following Supreme Court Ruling

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it will stop collecting tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act at 12:01 a.m. EST on Tuesday, more than three days after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the duties unlawful.

In a notice to shippers through its Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS), the agency said it will deactivate all tariff codes tied to President Donald Trump’s earlier IEEPA-related orders effective February 24.

The suspension of IEEPA tariff collections coincides with Trump’s rollout of a new 15% global tariff under a separate legal authority, intended to replace the levies invalidated by the Supreme Court on February 20.

CBP did not explain why it continued collecting the tariffs at ports of entry for several days after the court’s ruling. The agency’s message also did not address whether importers would receive refunds.

The notice clarified that the halt applies only to IEEPA-based tariffs and does not impact other duties imposed by Trump, including those under the Section 232 national security law and the Section 301 unfair trade practices statute. “CBP will provide additional guidance to the trade community through CSMS ‌messages as appropriate,” the agency said.

According to a report by Reuters on February 20, the Supreme Court’s decision could make more than $175 billion in U.S. Treasury revenue generated by the IEEPA tariffs eligible for potential refunds, citing estimates from economists at the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

Their analysis, based on a ground-up forecasting model, indicated that IEEPA-related tariffs had been generating over $500 million per day in gross revenue.

(with inputs from Reuters)