After the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs in February, UPS and FedEx, the United States’ two largest delivery companies, vowed to share tariff refunds with their customers.
As Reuters first reported, UPS CEO Carol Toomey said in an investor call after earnings that the company had collected about $5 billion in tariffs from its customers. Toomey said UPS will issue tariff refunds to its customers.
In an email statement to USA TODAY, UPS confirmed it was working with the federal government to process the tariff refunds it issued earlier this year.
“UPS is processing refunds for eligible shipments where we served as the importer. We will expand our efforts as future phases of CBP begin. We are committed to supporting our customers during the refund process,” UPS said.
FedEx told Reuters it also promised to issue refunds “as soon as we begin receiving refunds from CBP.”
Tariff refund on the horizon
On February 20, the Supreme Court, in a major blow to Trump’s economic agenda, ruled that he did not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs in one fell swoop. The decision came despite Trump warning that reducing his tariffs would have “devastating consequences for our national security, foreign policy, and economy.”
Now, more than two months after the decision, U.S. businesses that paid those fees have begun applying for refunds through a new Customs and Border Protection portal.
Court filings show those refunds could total about $166 billion, with more than 330,000 importers paying tariffs on more than 53 million shipments. Additional court documents revealed that the federal government plans to issue the first round of refunds on or around May 11.
