NEW YORK (AP) — A refund system for businesses that paid tariffs which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump imposed without the constitutional authority to do so is scheduled to launch Monday.
Importers and their brokers will be able to begin claiming refunds through an online portal beginning at 8 a.m., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency administering the system.
It's the first step in a complicated process that also might eventually lead to refunds for consumers who were billed for some or all of the tariffs on products shipped to them from outside the United States.
Companies must submit declarations listing the goods on which they collectively put billions of dollars toward the import taxes the court subsequently struck down. If CBP approves a claim, it will take 60-90 days for a refund to be issued, the agency said.
The government expects to process refunds in phases, however, focusing first on more recent tariff payments. Any number of technical factors and procedural issues could delay an importer's application, so any reimbursements businesses plan to make to customers likely would trickled down slowly.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court on Feb. 20 found that Trump usurped Congress' tax-setting role last April when he set new import tax rates on products from almost every other country, citing the U.S. trade deficit as a national emergency that warranted his invoking of a 1977 emergency powers law.
Although the court majority did not address refunds in its ruling, a judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade determined last month that companies subjected to IEEPA tariffs were entitled to money back.
Customs and Border Protection said in court filings that over 330,000 importers paid a total of about $166 billion on over 53 million shipments.
Not all of those orders qualify for the first phase of the refund system's rollout, which is limited to cases in which tariffs were estimated but not finalized or within 80 days of a final accounting.
To receive refunds, importers have to register for the CPB's electronic payment system. As of April 14, 56,497 importers had completed registration and were eligible for refunds totaling $127 billion, including interest, the agency said.
Meghann Supino, a partner at Ice Miller, said the law firm has advised clients to carefully list in their declarations all of the document numbers for forms that went to CBP to describe imported goods and their value.
“If there is an entry on that file that does not qualify, it may cause the entire entry to be rejected or that line item might be rejected by Customs,” she said.
Supino thinks the portal going live will require composure as well as diligence.
“Like any electronic online program that goes live with a lot of interest, I would expect that there might be some hiccups with the program on Monday,” she said. “So we continue to ask everyone to be patient, because we think that patience will pay off.”
Nghi Huynh, the partner-in-charge of transfer pricing at accounting and consulting firm Armanino, said most companies claiming refunds will have imported a mix of items, and not all will qualify right away.
“It’s about having a clear process in place and keeping track of what’s been submitted and what’s been paid, so nothing falls through the cracks,” she said. “Each file can include thousands of entries, but accuracy is critical, as submissions can be rejected if formatting or data is incorrect.”
Small businesses have eagerly awaited the chance to apply for refunds. Brad Jackson, co-founder of After Action Cigars in Rochester, Minnesota, said he starting compiling records and preparing to enter information into the system the minute CPB announced the launch date.
The company imports cigars and accessories from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Last year, it paid $34,000 in tariffs and absorbed much of the cost instead of raising customer prices, Jackson said.
Last spring, he had a two-week delay in a shipment due to a missing document, so he is being more careful with refund documents, he said.
“My main concern is the turnaround time,” Jackson said. “A refund process that takes several months to complete doesn’t solve the cash flow problem that it is supposed to fix.”
Tariffs are paid by importers, and some companies pass on the tax costs to consumers via higher prices.
The system starting up Monday will refund tariffs directly to the businesses that paid them, which are not obligated to share the proceeds with customers. However, class-action lawsuits that aim to force companies, ranging from Costco to Ray-Ban maker Essilor Luxottica, to reimburse shoppers are winding their way through the U.S. legal system.
Individuals may be more likely to receive refunds from delivery companies like FedEx and UPS, which collected tariffs on imports directly from consumers. FedEx has said it would return tariff refunds to customers when it receives them from the CPB.
“Supporting our customers as they navigate regulatory changes remains our top priority,” FedEx said in a statement. “We are working with our customers as CBP begins processing refunds and plan to begin filing claims on April 20.”
FILE - A customs agent wears a patch for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, Oct. 27, 2017, at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Police say the Louisiana gunman who shot up two houses early Sunday killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child.
Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said Sunday evening that the suspect, Shamar Elkins, shot the mother first and then killed eight children, seven of whom were his own.
The victims ranged in age from 1 to about 12 years old. The mother and another woman are in critical condition. Elkins died after a police pursuit.
Bordelon said there was still much to investigate but detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”
Bordelon said the suspect had been arrested in 2019 in a firearms case. He said police were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A gunman in Louisiana killed eight children and shot two other people Sunday in an early morning attack of domestic violence carried out across two houses, authorities said, shaking a Shreveport neighborhood in one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings in more than two years.
The suspect died after a police pursuit, and the victims — who ranged in age from 1 to about 12 years old — included children related to the gunman, said Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. Investigators did not say what may have set off the attack.
“This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” Bordelon said.
Officers fired at the suspect during a chase after he carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint, Bordelon said.
Police said the attacks began before sunrise in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport when the suspect shot a woman at one home and then drove to the other location “where this heinous act was carried out.”
Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape, Bordelon said.
State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to get away through the back door. “I can't even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.
Authorities did not release the name of the gunman but did say he was an adult male.
Liza Demming, who lives two houses down from where most of the victims were shot, said her security camera captured video of the suspect running away along with the sound of two shots.
“That’s pretty much all I saw, was him running out of the house and the cars leaving,” she said.
Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof. She said she did not know the gunman’s name.
“He looks like the dad that comes over here,” she said, adding that he was just with the children a few days ago.
Pastor Marty T. Johnson Sr., of nearby St. Gabriel Community Baptist Church, who owns one of the homes where the shootings occurred, said a person who works for him had rented it to the family, but he never had dealings with them.
“I don’t really know them, I really don’t,” he said. “I do plan on having a prayer vigil for the family, and anything I can do, with so many children, to help them bury the children, I’m going to do so.”
The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office released a statement on Sunday saying it was not yet releasing any of the children’s names because identification of the victims was pending.
Police said two women who were shot and wounded were being treated for serious injuries.
“What began as a domestic dispute has ended in irreversible harm,” the parish's district attorney’s office said in a statement.
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb in January 2024, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community as they sorted through multiple crime scenes.
“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. “I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur.”
“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. “It’s a terrible morning.”
Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate. In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting that involved an officer after a police pursuit into Bossier City on Sunday morning.
State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Shreveport, said in separate statements that they were heartbroken and praised law enforcement for their response.
“We’re holding the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” Johnson said in a statement.
This story has been corrected to attribute the statements about the shooting to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon, not Police Chief Wayne Smith, and corrects the ages of the children killed based on an update by police.
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz in New York, Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed.
People are consoled outside the scene of a mass shooting, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Shreveport, La. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People grieve as they comfort each other outside the scene of a mass shooting, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Shreveport, La. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Council woman Tabatha Taylor, right, hugs an unknown person outside the scene of a mass shooting in Shreveport, La., Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People are consoled outside the scene of a mass shooting, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Shreveport, La. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Police enter a house in Shreveport, La., that is one of the locations tied to a mass shooting Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Police work outside a house in Shreveport, La., that is one of the locations tied to a mass shooting Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Council woman Tabatha Taylor arrives on the scene of a mass shooting in Shreveport, La., Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
