US set to launch tariff refund system on April 20
(Reuters) — President Donald Trump’s administration plans to launch next Monday the system it will use for issuing refunds to American importers for $166 billion the companies paid in tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down in February as unlawful.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a court filing on Tuesday that it has completed the development of the initial phase of the refund system, known as CAPE.
The system will consolidate refunds so importers will receive one electronic payment, with interest when applicable, rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis. Agency official Brandon Lord made the declaration in the filing with the New York-based Court of International Trade. The agency disclosed the CAPE launch date in a separate announcement on Friday.
The Supreme Court ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing sweeping global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law meant for use in national emergencies.
Tuesday’s filing said that as of April 9 some 56,497 importers had completed the process to receive electronic refunds for tariffs affected by the court’s ruling, an amount totaling $127 billion.
Lord said in his declaration that the agency is considering options for processing refunds on a subset of entries that were subject to $2.9 billion in tariffs. Lord said these normally would require manual processing, which would dramatically increase the workload and divert personnel from the agency’s trade operations and enforcement.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, importers sued for refunds in the Court of International Trade, which is monitoring the development of the refund system.
More than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs at issue on 53 million shipments of imported goods, according to court documents.
A new accuser says Swalwell sexually assaulted her
LOS ANGELES (NYT) — A woman who turned to Rep. Eric Swalwell of California for political help said Tuesday that he raped her in a West Hollywood hotel, the latest in a series of accusations that have ended his political career and put him in legal jeopardy.
The woman, Lonna Drewes, a model who works in fashion technology, said at a news conference in Beverly Hills, California, that in 2018, Swalwell had promised to take her to a political event before drugging and sexually assaulting her.
The New York Times has not confirmed her account. Drewes said she told people close to her about the episode at the time it happened, but her lawyers did not make any of them available for comment Tuesday, saying that they planned to share evidence with law enforcement.
“My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt,” Drewes said Tuesday. “Fear of his political power, his background as an attorney, and his family law enforcement ties.”
Less than two hours after Drewes’ accusations were made public, Swalwell’s office said his resignation from Congress would take effect at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
Swalwell, a Democrat from the San Francisco Bay Area, had been running for governor but suspended his campaign Sunday after reports by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN.