Ranking Member Edward J. Markey, along with Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen, led several Senate Democrats in writing to Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott on March 27 to urge an automatic process for tariff tax refunds that would not place extra burdens on American small businesses and families.
The senators say this issue is important because many small businesses have yet to receive their tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration's IEEPA tariffs last month. The lawmakers argue that the current proposed refund system, called CAPE, requires importers to opt in and provide information already available to CBP, making it unnecessarily complicated.
“There is no principled reason for the Trump administration to conduct the refund process this way. CBP already has the payment records it needs to issue refunds. As of March 4, 2026, CBP reported that more than 330,000 importers had paid or deposited approximately $166 billion in IEEPA tariffs across more than 53 million entries. All of those payments are recorded in CBP’s own ACE system — the same system within which CAPE is being built. If the government has records of every entry on which illegal tariffs were collected, it necessarily has records of every entry on which a refund is owed. Requiring businesses to file declarations to identify those entries is an unnecessary process that seems designed to discourage and reduce the number of refunds the government must ultimately pay,” Markey and colleagues wrote.
The senators also said: “Small businesses should not have to do additional work to receive refunds on what amounted to illegal tariff payments. The CIT, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court have spoken. Every cent of illegal IEEPA tariffs must be returned. The only question is whether CBP will make that process as simple and equitable as possible, or whether it will implement a complicated and unfair system through which large corporations and Wall Street will benefit financially.”
The letter was co-signed by several other Democratic senators including Chuck Schumer, Chris Coons, John Hickenlooper, Adam Schiff, Angela Alsobrooks, Mark Warner, Jeff Merkley (who serves as ranking member according to the official website), Raphael Warnock, Jacky Rosen, Andy Kim, Jack Reed, Tim Kaine, Michael Bennet, Ben Ray Luján , Mazie Hirono and Richard Blumenthal.
In recent months Markey has hosted briefings with business owners about these issues; sent letters urging retailers and shippers pass savings onto consumers; introduced legislation such as the Small Business Liberation Act series; released reports detailing how tariffs affect Main Streets; held press conferences highlighting small business voices; called for investigations into Wall Street practices around rebates; applauded court decisions striking down tariffs; requested data from agencies about state-by-state impacts; urged new procedures from federal officials; introduced bills like RELIEF Act exempting small firms from certain tariffs; all while facing legislative opposition.
The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee supports informed decision-making on national fiscal priorities according to its official website. It offers Congress comprehensive policy options regarding federal budget components according to its official website, contributes through resolutions/reconciliation instructions according to its official website, provides nonpartisan budgetary analysis via Congressional Budget Office oversight according to its official website, features Lindsey Graham as chairman alongside Merkley as ranking member according to its official website, and was established by law in 1974 according to its official website.
