Tariff Refund Portal Set for April 20 as Device Makers Mark a Year of Tariffs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is on track to open its refund system for tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on April 20 at 8 a.m. EDT, according to a Tuesday court filing reported by MedTech Dive. The launch gives medical device makers, along with other importers, a way to seek back duties the Supreme Court ruled in February the president lacked authority to impose under that law.

In its filing with the Court of International Trade, CBP said primary development of the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries system is complete and that it will run intensive testing before launch. Once an entry is submitted and accepted, refunds should take roughly 60 to 90 days, and all will be paid electronically, according to the report. Based on the share of eligible entries registered for electronic payment, CBP expects to deliver roughly $127 billion in refunds across all importers, MedTech Dive reported. The first release will not cover finally liquidated entries, which CBP said it would add in later versions.

What medtech could recover

For device makers, the sums are meaningful. PwC found medtech companies stand to receive as much as $2.6 billion in refunds of IEEPA duties, based on CBP data, according to a MedTech Dive analysis published April 9, a year after the April 2025 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement. Glenn Hunzinger, PwC's U.S. health industries leader, told the publication that for some of the largest medtech companies the tariff impact on earnings runs upwards of $200 million to $500 million a year.

The refunds do not end the tariff bill. After the Supreme Court ruling, the administration turned to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a broad 10% tariff on imports, and the cost to device makers has stayed similar, analysts told MedTech Dive. "It's kind of a wash, as far as what I've heard from most of the companies," said Needham analyst Mike Matson.

Absorbing costs, shifting suppliers

Analysts and advisers told MedTech Dive that device makers have mostly avoided raising prices for hospitals or cutting research budgets, instead looking for efficiencies elsewhere. Tariffs dented gross margins for many companies in 2025 and will again this year, but the headwind has been manageable, without widespread layoffs or deep R&D cuts, the publication reported. "R&D is absolutely the last thing our companies want to cut," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh.

Christopher Young of KPMG US described "targeted shifts, not sweeping relocations." Companies have moved sourcing of simpler, lower-cost products to lower-tariff regions, while complex devices that rely on specialized components cannot easily switch qualified suppliers without regulatory consequences, he told the publication.

A Section 232 national security investigation into imports of medical devices, consumables and protective equipment has been open since September. Singh told MedTech Dive the probe is not expected to become a tool for applying more tariffs to device imports.