The amount returned and the part that has not

Customs and Border Protection had returned 100 billion dollars of duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as of July 31, according to agency official Brandon Lord. The total owed after the Supreme Court struck the tariffs down in February 2026 is 166 billion dollars. The portal opened in April 2026 has accepted 128.68 billion dollars of claims so far.[1]

Part of the work is still open. Roughly 11.4 billion dollars, or 6.9 per cent, tied to finally liquidated entries has not been paid, and the agency had planned to deliver that capability by the end of July. Since a reconciliation feature went live on June 29, 2.2 million submissions have been filed. Amazon has recovered 600 million dollars.[1]

Who paid the duty and who collects the money

A duty refund goes, by definition, to the party that remitted the duty to the agency, which is the importing firm. While the tariff was in force, whatever share of that payment passed into the shelf price was met by the household buying the product. The refund opens no channel of its own back into that household's budget: 600 million dollars moves into a single company's account, while no corresponding transaction is defined for the buyer who paid the higher price.[1]

There is a counter-reading, and it deserves to be taken seriously. Where competition is tight, firms can convert the refunded amount into lower prices, in which case the money reaches the buyer indirectly. The data that would settle the distinction is not in the refund portal itself. Category-level price series are the only evidence that would show what refund-receiving firms did in the goods they import, and the 2.2 million submissions filed so far do not answer that question.[1]

What the unpaid balance carries

The roughly 11.4 billion dollars still unpaid also marks out the time left to observe that distinction. As the rest of the 166 billion dollar obligation is paid in the coming months, the path of consumer prices in the sectors receiving refunds will be the first measurable sign of where the money settled. If prices in those categories run below the general trend, the pass-through happened; if they track the general trend, the refund stayed on the importer's balance sheet.[1]