2026年4月16日 / 美国东部时间早上5:00 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻（CBS News）
作者：梅根·塞鲁洛 记者，MoneyWatch栏目
梅根·塞鲁洛是哥伦比亚广播公司MoneyWatch驻纽约记者，报道小企业、职场、医疗保健、消费支出和个人理财领域话题。她经常亮相哥伦比亚广播公司24小时新闻频道讨论其报道内容。
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美国政府将于下周上线一个在线门户网站，方便企业申请被最高法院认定为非法的关税退款。但退款不会自动到账，法律专家表示，企业在追回款项时可能还会面临其他障碍。
美国海关和边境保护局（CBP）这一联邦机构将启动这个名为CAPE（即报关综合管理与处理系统）的门户网站，以便企业提交关税退款申请。海关和边境保护局在周二的一份文件中确认，CAPE将于4月20日开放退款申请通道。
美国最高法院今年2月裁定，特朗普总统依据《国际紧急经济权力法》（IEEPA）非法征收关税，此后美国政府可能需要向企业支付最高1750亿美元的退款。自这项具有里程碑意义的裁决公布以来，已有数千家企业向国际贸易法院（CIT）提起诉讼，要求退还关税。
海关和边境保护局在其网站上的指南中表示：“CAPE将简化依据法院命令并按照适当法定权限提出的《国际紧急经济权力法》关税退款申请，通过电子渠道提交有效的《国际紧急经济权力法》关税退款申请。”
以下是关于政府关税退款门户网站的关键信息，包括谁有资格提交申请以及企业多久能收到退款。
进口商的负担
贸易律师在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示，尽管CAPE为企业寻求针对非法紧急关税的赔偿提供了途径，但该系统将获取退款的责任推给了数十万家美国进口商。该系统还将退款申请限制在“未清算关税”——即仍可修改的估算关税——以及海关和边境保护局在过去80天内最终确定的关税范围内。
“令人惊讶的是，海关和边境保护局一直以来都很配合，”福克斯·罗思柴尔德律师事务所国际贸易业务组联合主席莉兹贝斯·莱文森在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示。“但从一开始就有一件事很明确——海关将负担放在了进口商身上。海关不会主动处理，这取决于每个进口商自己。”
谁有资格申请？
有两类主体可以使用CAPE申请关税退款：缴纳了《国际紧急经济权力法》关税的企业，以及代表进口商缴纳税款的海关经纪人。
根据莱文森的说法，只有所谓的“记录进口商”有权获得退款。例如，因进口产品价格上涨而受损的消费者无权提交关税退款申请。
退款会自动到账吗？
不会，企业必须主动申请退款，并等待海关和边境保护局处理并批准其申请。
“这些绝对不是自动退款，”莱文森说。“你必须费劲周折，尽管海关本应主动进行自动退款。他们掌握所有信息——他们知道谁缴纳了《国际紧急经济权力法》关税，也知道如何联系相关人员。”
哪些关税符合退款条件？
只有《国际紧急经济权力法》关税符合退款条件，即便如此，海关和边境保护局表示可退还的关税种类也有限制。最初，CAPE将接受估算关税以及海关和边境保护局在过去80天内最终确定的关税的退款申请。
全球贸易和物流公司Flexport总裁桑恩·曼德斯表示，这约占所有《国际紧急经济权力法》关税的63%。该公司帮助企业估算其可获得的退款金额。
“其余37%已完成清算或正在被抗议的报关单被排除在外，”曼德斯说，并补充道，企业在退款资格方面仍面临持续的不确定性。“关于整个流程还有很多不清楚的地方。”
企业何时能收到退款？
海关和边境保护局表示，将在批准有效退款申请后的60至90天内发放退款。但如果申请存在错误或不准确之处需要修正，可能需要更长时间。
曼德斯指出，海关经纪人在文书工作中出错并不罕见，例如为特定进口商品使用错误的关税编码。
“核心信息是，你必须在申请退款前整理好所有材料，”他说。“假设一切顺利，那63%的退款可能在数月内到账，而剩下的37%可能需要数年时间。”
与此同时，尽管关税退款门户网站定于下周上线，但一些贸易律师和其他专家担心可能会出现故障。
“4月20日，情况将开始失控，”科恩雷兹尼克咨询公司重组与争议解决部门董事总经理亚当·汉诺弗在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示。“我仍然不确定这个系统能否正常运行。”
安永全球会计师事务所贸易政策专家布莱克·哈登在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示，尽管她对海关和边境保护局在建立退款系统方面取得的进展印象深刻，但该系统的有效性还有待时间验证。“从理论上讲，这一切看起来都很不错。但这个系统真的能如宣传的那样运作吗？”
退款之外的替代方案
一些进口商可能会认为，收集和提交关税退款申请文书的麻烦不值得，尤其是在无法保证很快能拿到退款的情况下。
这些企业有其他选择。据Flexport的曼德斯透露，一些对冲基金和金融服务公司正在收购企业的关税退款索赔权，立即向进口商支付款项，同时承担申请退款的行政负担。
“对于不想等待退款到账的进口商来说，这是一种选择，”他说，并补充道Flexport本身也提供收购此类索赔权的服务。“他们现在可以出售自己的索赔权，立即拿到钱，然后彻底了结此事。”
他补充道，这种途径可能会吸引“任何急需现金的人，因为你知道自己能在几周内拿到钱，而不是几个月”。
教育玩具公司Learning Resources的首席执行官里克·沃尔德enberg估计，美国政府欠其公司最多1200万美元的关税退款。正是他的公司在2025年提起的诉讼，促使最高法院裁定特朗普政府依据《国际紧急经济权力法》征收关税的行为违宪。
他告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，他计划在下周退款门户网站上线时“排队等候”，尽管沃尔德enberg更希望政府能自动向企业报销。
“大多数人都有过这样的经历：缴纳的税款超过应缴金额时，会收到邮寄的支票，”他说。“你不需要主动申请就能拿回多缴的钱。你不需要提醒他们，也不需要恳求他们——这钱本来就不是他们的。”
编辑：阿兰·谢特
Trump administration set to launch tariff refund portal. Here’s what to know.
April 16, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT / CBS News
By Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
Read Full Bio
The U.S. government is set to launch an online portal next week that lets businesses request refunds for tariffs deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. But payouts won’t be automatic, and legal experts said businesses could face other obstacles getting their money back.
A federal agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will boot up the portal — known as CAPE, for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries — so companies can submit claims for tariff refunds. CBP confirmed in a filing on Tuesday that CAPE will open for refund applications on April 20.
The government could owe businesses up to $175 billion after the Supreme Court ruled in February that President Trump had illegally issued tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Since the landmark decision, companies have filed thousands of lawsuits with the Court of International Trade (CIT) seeking tariff refunds.
“CAPE will simplify International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duty refund requests made pursuant to court order and in accordance with appropriate statutory authority by providing an electronic pathway to submit valid IEEPA duty refund claims,” CBP states in guidance on its website.
Here’s what to know about the government tariff refund portal, including who is eligible to submit a claim and how soon businesses could receive payment.
Burden on the importer
Although CAPE will offer a mechanism for businesses to seek compensation for the illegal emergency levies, it places the onus for obtaining refunds on hundreds of thousands of U.S. importers, trade attorneys told CBS News. The system also limits refund applications to “unliquidated tariffs” — estimated duties that can still be amended — as well as to tariffs that were finalized by CBP within the past 80 days.
“It’s amazing that CBP has been cooperative as they’ve been,” attorney Lizbeth Levinson, co-chair of the international trade practice group at Fox Rothschild, told CBS News. “But one thing has been clear from the beginning — that customs is putting the burden on the importer. Customs is not figuring it out. It’s up to each individual importer.”
Who is eligible?
Two types of parties can use CAPE to apply for tariff refunds: businesses that paid IEEPA tariffs and customs brokers that paid duties on an importer’s behalf.
Only the so-called importer of record is entitled to money back, according to Levinson. For example, consumers who were hit with higher costs on an imported product are not eligible to submit claims for a tariff refund.
Are the refunds automatic?
No, businesses must opt in for refunds and wait for CBP to process and approve their claims.
“These are absolutely not automatic refunds,” Levinson said. “You have to jump through hoops, even though customs should have taken it upon themselves to do automatic refunds. They have all the information — they know who paid IEEPA duties and how to get in touch with people.”
Which tariffs are eligible for refunds?
Only IEEPA tariffs are eligible for refunds, and even then, there are limits to the kinds of duties CBP said it will refund. Initially, CAPE will accept requests for estimated tariffs, along with those that were finalized by CBP within the past 80 days.
That accounts for roughly 63% of all IEEPA duties, according to Sanne Manders, president of Flexport, a global trade and logistics company that helps businesses estimate the size of their refunds.
“The remaining 37% of entries that have already been liquidated or are being protested are excluded,” Manders said, adding that businesses face ongoing uncertainty over their eligibility for refunds. “A lot is still unclear about what the process will be.”
When will companies get refunds?
CBP has said it will issue tariff refunds for valid claims within 60 to 90 days of approving them.But it could take longer if claims contain errors or inaccuracies that require fixing.
Manders noted that it’s not uncommon for customs brokers to make mistakes in paperwork by, for example, applying the wrong tariff codes to a given import.
“The big message is that you have to clean up your act before you ask for a refund,” he said. “Assuming everything goes well, you’ll probably see the 63% of refunds potentially in months, while the other 37% could take years.”
Meanwhile, although the tariff refund portal is set to launch next week, some trade attorneys and other experts fear potential hitches.
“April 20 is when things are going to start to hit the fan,” Adam Hanover, managing director of restructuring and dispute resolution at CohnReznick Advisory, told CBS News. “I am still not sold that the system is going to work.”
Ernst & Young trade policy expert Blake Harden told CBS News that while she’s impressed by the progress CBP has made in standing up a refund system, time will tell how effective it is. “On paper this all looks pretty good. But is this system really going to operate as advertised?”
An alternative to refunds
Some importers may decide that the hassle of collecting and submitting paperwork for a tariff refund isn’t worth the effort, especially without a guarantee they’ll be made whole anytime soon.
Those businesses have an alternative. Some hedge funds and financial services firms are buying businesses’ tariff refund claims, putting money in importers’ pockets immediately, while taking on the administrative burden of applying for a refund, according to Flexport’s Manders.
“That is an option for importers who don’t want to wait to get their money back,” he said, noting that Flexport is itself offering to purchase such claims. “They can sell their claim now, get the money instantly and be done with it.”
This route could appeal to “anyone who needs cash now, because you know you will get your money in weeks, instead of months,” he added.
Rick Woldenberg, CEO of educational toy company Learning Resources, estimates the U.S. government owes his business up to $12 million in refunds for tariffs the company paid. It was his company’s 2025 lawsuit that the Supreme Court ruled on in striking down the Trump administration’s use of IEEPA to impose tariffs.
He told CBS News he plans to be “first in line” when the refund portal opens next week, although Woldenberg would’ve preferred that the government automatically reimburse businesses.
“Most people have the experience of getting a check in the mail when they pay more in taxes than they owe,” he said. “You don’t have to opt in to get money back. You don’t have to remind them or beg them — it’s not theirs.”
Edited by Alain Sherter
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