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Major US media outlets reported on the 14th that a system to refund $166 billion (244 trillion won) in tariffs, which were collected by the US Trump administration and later ruled illegal by the Federal Supreme Court, will begin its first phase of operation on the 20th (local time).
According to the report, this system, named 'CAPE', does not require processing refunds for individual import declarations and supports integrated processing of refunds.
If interest is applicable, it is calculated and processed together.
As a result, importers can receive refunds via electronic payment at once, even if they have multiple import declarations.
This information was revealed through a document submitted by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to the US Court of International Trade (USCIT).
According to this document, as of the 9th of this month, the number of importers who have completed applications to receive tariff refunds via electronic payment in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling is approximately 56,497, and the amount is $127 billion (175 trillion won).
The CBP explained that among the applications, there are types that typically require manual processing, and they are currently devising a plan on how to handle them, stating that the amount corresponding to these cases is $2.9 billion (4 trillion won).
The CBP explained that if these were to be processed manually, the agency's workload would sharply increase, and there would be concerns about disruption to operations.
Small-scale importers are concerned that the cost of going through the refund process might exceed the benefits.
Previously, the customs authorities announced on the 10th that they had set the system activation date for the 20th and would activate the refund system in phases.
Accordingly, tariff refunds through the CAPE system will initially be processed for recently imported products and applications without complex details.
The activation of this tariff refund system follows the US Supreme Court's ruling on February 20th of this year that the Trump administration's imposition of so-called 'reciprocal tariffs' based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) enacted in 1977 was illegal.
According to court documents, there are over 330,000 importing companies that paid the tariffs ruled illegal, and 53 million import shipments.
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