The feds are gearing up to pay out refunds to businesses affected by the Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs, but Apple won't see one dime of the $3.2 billion it has already paid likely until July 2026.

On Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it has begun developing a refund program to pay back some of the import duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The program is known as Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE).

CAPE is voluntary, and Importers of Record (IORs) and Customs brokers will need to apply via the ACE portal to get the refunds. The process seems quite involved.

CAPE is being deployed in phases, with the first beginning on April 20. Phase 1 is limited to certain unliquidated entities, and entities that are within 80 days of liquidation. Apple certainly counts as unliquidated.

CBP says that refunds are generally issued within two to three months, provided that all documentation is provided and does not require further review.

What this means for Apple

There's no doubt that Apple has been hit hard by tariffs. In a year's time, Apple was hit for over $3.2 billion.

In April, when IEEPA duties were announced, they were much worse than expected. Goods imported from China, for example, were subjected to a 34% tariff.

For Apple, that meant 40% of its goods were subjected to the tariff. But that wasn't the only, or even the worst, that Apple would pay.

Apple paid the following import duties on goods imported from its many major global suppliers:

  • India: 26%
  • Vietnam: 46%
  • Thailand: 36%
  • Malaysia: 25%
  • Taiwan: 32%

Unsurprisingly, even efforts to reshore its manufacturing would have seen significant price increases. A TSMC processor made in Arizona wouldn't face any import fees, but the components to make the chips, which would be imported, would.

In February 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were imposed illegally. Other tariffs were immediately applied by the President, but they are nowhere near what the "reciprocal" tariffs were charging.

While the CBP seems confident that CAPE should go off without a hitch, it doesn't change the fact that it won't help Apple before the April 30 earnings announcement, and likely not before the next earnings period ends at the end of June.

Apple won't get all of the $3.2 billion it has already spent. However, some quick math suggests that not including what it had to pay before the Supreme Court ruling, it will get about $2.5 billion of that $3.2 billion back.