On April 20, the U.S. government's new refund system for companies to claim back illegally collected tariffs went live. Many businesses quickly started filing their claims. Jay Foreman, CEO of toy company Basic Fun, re...
On April 20, the U.S. government's new refund system for companies to claim back illegally collected tariffs went live. Many businesses quickly started filing their claims.
Jay Foreman, CEO of toy company Basic Fun, reported that while the system had some glitches, it held up well under the high volume of traffic. His team in Boca Raton, Florida, was ready to file claims right when the system opened at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.
Foreman shared that although the system didn’t crash as some feared, it occasionally wouldn't allow uploads, requiring users to retry. Basic Fun has over 500 files to submit, but the system allows for batch uploads.
“If you try to upload too many at once or if the system is overloaded, it will kick them back,” Foreman commented via email. “We’ve successfully loaded over 50% of our invoices so far, and we hope to complete everything in the next few hours. I'm glad we started this process early.”
Companies that spoke to Reuters recently expressed concerns about whether the new system, developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in response to a court order, would be reliable. The order mandates the return of up to $166 billion to importers.
Cassie Abel, CEO of Wild Rye, an outerwear company from Idaho, felt relieved that the online portal was working well. She hired a customs broker for the filing, which cost her $250.
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the tariffs pushed by President Donald Trump as unconstitutional, marking a significant defeat for him.
As of April 9, Customs officials reported that about 56,497 importers had completed necessary steps for electronic refunds, amounting to $127 billion. More than 330,000 importers had paid tariffs affecting 53 million shipments of goods.
It’s unclear if the speed of entering refund claims will affect processing times, but many companies preferred not to take the risk and submitted claims right away.
A spokesman for CBP stated they established a system to efficiently process refunds for importers and brokers who paid the duties.
LONG BATTLE OVER TARIFFS
Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, an educational toy company, mentioned hearing reports of temporary crashes but didn’t experience any himself. He compared the situation to everyone trying to buy Taylor Swift tickets at once.
Learning Resources, a plaintiff in the lawsuit that led to the tariff's removal, aims to recover about $10 million and has filed around 5,000 claims, with most already accepted.
Woldenberg expressed frustration at having to file for reimbursement, stating, “The Supreme Court said they over-collected taxes, so why do I have to ask for it back?” Nonetheless, he commended the system's performance so far.
“The policies set at the top don’t reflect the hard work of the people at CBP, who have done a great job,” he added.
Lynlee Brown, a global trade partner at EY, noted that their clients have generally found the system accepting submissions easily, especially for the less complex first phase.
She explained that once entries are accepted, they go into a mass-processing phase that aims to automate refunds within 60 to 90 days. “If anything appears suspicious,” she said, “it will be sent for human review.”
This development is part of a long struggle over emergency tariffs collected during the past year as Trump attempted to reshape U.S. trade relations. Fluctuating tariffs caused disruptions in global business as companies scrambled to adjust their supply chains and determine who would pay the taxes.