New York businesses finally have a path to recovering billions in tariff payments — and Governor Kathy Hochul wants to make sure that path leads all the way back to the wallets of everyday New Yorkers, not just the companies that paid the import taxes.
On April 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched a federal refund process allowing importers of record and authorized customs brokers to file claims through the ACE trade portal under a new system known as CAPE — the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. It marks the first concrete step in returning what the federal government collected under tariff authority that the nation’s highest court has since ruled unlawful.
For New York’s business community — from garment district importers to Brooklyn manufacturers to independent retailers — the opening of the CAPE portal represents an opportunity to claw back real money. The question now is how much comes back, how fast, and who actually sees the relief.
How New York Got Here
The tariff refund process did not come without a fight. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 did not give the president authority to impose the sweeping tariffs at issue, siding with challenges brought by New York and 11 other states. That ruling forced the federal government to establish a mechanism for returning the revenue it had collected — a process that is now officially underway.
Governor Hochul reiterated her calls for the Trump administration to refund an estimated $13.5 billion in tariff payments to New Yorkers, citing Yale Budget Lab figures that put the average cost per household at $1,751. Those numbers reflect not just what businesses paid directly at the border, but the downstream effect on consumers who absorbed higher prices on imported goods throughout the period the tariffs were in effect.
The governor did not hold back in her framing. “They still owe New York families $1,700. They deserve their money back and we’re going to continue fighting for that and we’re in court to secure that as well,” Hochul told reporters at an event in Buffalo.
What the CAPE Portal Actually Does — and Doesn’t Do
The federal refund process is real, but it comes with significant limitations — particularly in its first phase.
In its first phase, the process is limited to certain unliquidated entries and some entries liquidated within the past 80 days. Under CBP guidance, only the importer of record or an authorized customs broker may file a CAPE declaration, and the first phase does not cover every case. More complicated scenarios are expected to be handled in later phases.
That means the businesses most likely to benefit immediately are those with recent, straightforward import entries — not every New York company that absorbed tariff costs over the past year. Smaller importers, retailers who purchased from domestic wholesalers who had already paid the tariffs, and consumers who paid more at the register are not directly covered in this first wave.
If approved, it will take 60 to 90 days for a refund to be issued. The government owes businesses more than $166 billion after the court ruled the president does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs under IEEPA. New York’s $13.5 billion share of that figure represents one of the largest state-level impacts in the country — a reflection of just how much the city and state depend on international trade.
The Business Reality on the Ground
New York’s economy runs on imports. The Port of New York and New Jersey is one of the busiest on the East Coast. The city’s fashion industry, restaurant supply chains, electronics retailers, and construction material suppliers all rely heavily on goods that moved through tariff-affected trade lanes over the past year.
For many of those businesses, the tariffs were not a line item they could simply absorb. Margins at retail, particularly in an environment of already-elevated inflation, left little room. Some passed costs to customers. Others delayed orders. A number reduced staff or scaled back expansion plans. The prospect of a refund — even a partial one arriving 60 to 90 days from now — offers some relief, but it does not undo the disruption.
Governor Hochul has also highlighted the particular harm caused to New York’s small businesses and farmers across the state. As part of her 2026 State of the State, she proposed $30 million in tariff relief to help support impacted farmers, noting that over 80 percent of agrochemical imports and 70 percent of farm machinery imports come from countries that faced tariffs of 10 percent or more.
Upstate farmers, Hudson Valley growers, and Long Island agricultural operations are among the businesses that took on elevated equipment and supply costs with little ability to pass those prices along. For them, even with the Supreme Court ruling, the damage in many cases has already been done.
Hochul’s Broader Push for Consumer Relief
Governor Hochul’s position goes further than simply cheering the CAPE portal’s launch. She has consistently argued that the refund process must extend beyond the businesses that directly paid import taxes to reach the everyday New Yorkers who felt the effects at the checkout counter.
“Every day New Yorkers also paid the price. It’s not just a business that can show on a ledger that they paid this tariff to this entity,” Hochul told reporters. That argument reflects a real gap in the current federal refund framework — which, as structured, does not include a direct mechanism for consumer reimbursement.
The state is pursuing that broader relief through the courts. Whether that litigation succeeds will determine whether the refund story ends with corporate balance sheet adjustments or actually reaches the New Yorkers who stretched their budgets to cover higher prices on everyday goods.
What Comes Next
For businesses eligible under the first phase of CAPE, the clock is running. Importers and their brokers should consult with customs counsel to assess which entries qualify and how to structure declarations appropriately. The 60-to-90-day refund window means that filings made now could result in funds arriving by mid-to-late summer — a timeline that matters for cash-flow-constrained operations.
For everyone else — the retailers, the restaurateurs, the consumers — the next chapter depends on how aggressively the state pursues its legal case and whether the federal government moves to expand the refund mechanism beyond its current first-phase scope.
New York went to court to get these tariffs struck down. Now the state is back at the table, pushing to make sure the victory translates into real money returned to the people and businesses that bore the cost.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice. Businesses seeking to file tariff refund claims under the CAPE system should consult a licensed customs broker or legal professional to assess eligibility and filing requirements. Information is based on publicly available sources and government announcements as of April 21, 2026, and is subject to change as federal guidance evolves.
