“CBP cannot comply with the order issued by the Court of International Trade on March 4, 2026,” said Brandon Lord, Executive Director of Trade Policy and Programs at CBP, in a court filing submitted to the U.S. Court of International Trade.
Lord extended these arguments to the court’s March 5 order related to the Atmus case, part of the legal battle over tariff refunds, in which the judge also ordered the “liquidation” of all import transactions — both those still pending and those already processed but not yet final — without applying the emergency tariffs imposed by Trump.
On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the tariffs imposed by Trump, ruling that the president had exceeded his authority by using emergency powers legislation to justify them.
A majority of the court concluded that the president did not have the authority to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 during peacetime — the law Trump had relied on to implement his trade measures.
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Following the ruling, the U.S. Court of International Trade, which has jurisdiction over the matter, ordered the Trump administration earlier this week to stop applying tariffs imposed under the IEEPA in ongoing cases and opened the possibility of refunds in cases where tariffs had already been collected.
CBP estimates that approximately $166 billion has been collected through tariffs imposed under the emergency law.
According to the agency, around 20.1 million import transactions remained unliquidated as of March 4.
Brandon Lord’s filing was submitted ahead of a hearing before Judge Richard Eaton in New York regarding the potential reimbursement of the tariffs.
