Tariff Refund Checks Are Actually Arriving — But Trump Says He'll Fight Paying Them Back

The Money Is Moving

Tariff refunds are landing in corporate bank accounts right now.

Oshkosh Corporation CFO Matt Field confirmed to CNBC Tuesday that the company has begun receiving payments, calling them an "initial portion" of total claims submitted. The company hasn't finished verifying the full amount yet.

Basic Fun — the toy company behind Care Bears and Tonka trucks — also confirmed Tuesday it started collecting refunds. CEO Jay Foreman told CNBC the receipts so far represent only 5% of the company's total claim on early invoices. He's already announced what he's doing with it: salary increases, promotions, and larger merit raises for staff. "This is the toughest time of the year for toy companies," Foreman said.

The Numbers Are Enormous

U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed in a court filing Monday that it expects to pay $35.46 billion in refunds covering 8.3 million shipments in this first wave alone. That's just the start.

According to ABC7, CBP says over 330,000 importers paid roughly $166 billion in IEEPA tariffs across 53 million total shipments. As of April 14, 56,497 importers had completed registration for refunds — eligible for a combined $127 billion including interest, per CBP filings cited by ABC7.

According to Straight Arrow News, at least 75,000 businesses had applied through the portal by late April. About 15% got rejected — mostly paperwork errors or ineligible shipments.

Major expected recipients include Walmart, Target, Nike, General Motors, and Macy's, per Straight Arrow News. Consumers paid an average of $700 per household in tariff costs last year. Most companies say they'll use the refunds to pay down debt, restock inventory, or potentially lower prices — NOT to directly refund customers. The exception: UPS, FedEx, and DHL have all said they'll refund customers who were billed for tariffs on packages. No action required from those customers.

The Process Is Complicated — And Buggy

The CBP launched its online portal, called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, on April 20 at 8 p.m. ET, according to Fox Business. Phase one only covers tariff entries finalized within the past 80 days — so the full $166 billion doesn't all come at once.

ABC7 reported that businesses attempting to register on day one ran into a rocky system. A Washington D.C. clothing company co-owner said the portal was "buggy" when she tried to create an account. An attorney in Northern Virginia told ABC7 his clients experienced "delays and lag time." Ice Miller attorney Meghann Supino warned clients to file claims carefully — accuracy matters because errors delay everything.

Once CBP approves a claim, the agency says refunds take 60-90 days to issue. This process is going to stretch out for months.

Trump Is Publicly Threatening to Fight It

A federal court — the U.S. Court of International Trade — issued a specific order directing CBP to refund these duties. The Supreme Court already ruled 6-3 that these tariffs were unconstitutional.

In a WABC radio interview Tuesday, Trump called the refund situation "crazy" and said flat out: "In theory, you have to pay the tariffs back. We'll fight that."

Over the weekend, Trump posted on Truth Social that the tariff ruling "cost the United States 159 Billion Dollars that we have to pay back to enemies, and people, companies, and Countries, that have been ripping us off for years." He also said he "has another way of doing tariffs" but called it "far slower, and more laborious."

A president publicly resisting a court order raises a fundamental question about the separation of powers.

What Mainstream Coverage Is Missing

Left-leaning outlets are breathlessly covering the consumer relief angle without acknowledging that most companies are NOT passing refunds to consumers — they're using the cash for operations, debt, and employees.

Right-leaning coverage has focused heavily on Trump's frustration and his framing of this as money going to foreign enemies. Most of this money is going back to American importers — U.S. companies and businesses — who paid the tariffs domestically. The foreign governments didn't pay these tariffs. American businesses did.

The administration is legally obligated to pay this back. It is not optional. Courts have ordered it.

The Situation

The checks are real, they're arriving, and the total liability sits at up to $166 billion. A president who imposed these tariffs without constitutional authority is now publicly threatening to fight paying them back — even as his own Customs agency processes the refunds.