What You’re Asking Us, And What We Know Right Now: Tariffs and Refunds

Given the changing nature of tariff policy in the United States, Bestway is understandably asked a great many questions by clients and others in the industry about what is happening with tariffs.

We must acknowledge it could be many months (or even longer) before the dust settles and we can say for sure where tariff policy will end up. But as much as possible, we want to share the insight we do have in response to the questions we’re being asked.

Here is what you’re asking us, and what we can tell you:

Will refunds be issued for tariffs ruled illegal by the Supreme Court under IEEPA? If so when, and how do we get ours?

This issue is now in the hands of the Court of International Trade, and it will likely be at least several weeks before a ruling is issued. But on Thursday, March 12, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) told the Court of International Trade it has made some progress on setting up functionality for issuing refunds through its ACE system.

According to what CPB told the Court on Thursday, the relevant ACE functionality will be known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE).

The CAPE claim portal will be web-based, and this is where importers and customs brokers can submit IEEPA refund requests (officially known as “CAPE Declaration”).

Users will find this as a new tab in their ACE portal accounts. CAPE will feature four integrated components:

• A claim portal
• Mass processing
• Review and liquidation/reliquidation
• Refunds

The refund component is 60 percent complete, and CPB is “performance-testing” it.

However, do not expect the refunds to be automatic. Importers will almost certainly have to submit documentation via CAPE for all entries that are seeking refunds.

It is Bestway’s recommendation to start preparing that documentation in anticipation of a ruling, but keep in mind that no ruling has been issued and it cannot be determined with certainty what the ruling will be.

What documents will we need to submit to get the refunds?

First, make sure you’ve signed up for an ACE account on CPB’s system. Once you do this, follow the instructions for enrolling in the “ACH Refund Authorization” tool.

According to CPB, importers have a lot of catching up to do here – with a full 93 percent still not having signed up for the “ACH Refund Authorization” tool under ACE.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to get your IEEPA duty summary reports from your customs broker. (If that’s us, we’re ready to prepare this for you by request.)

What other factors will impact the issuance of refunds?

CPB says it intends to conduct a review of each refund request to make sure no other outstanding issues would impact the granting of a refund. Some of the factors they’ll examine could include the type of entry and the liquidation cycle, as well as other duties or fees that might apply.

CPB says it is working hard to get the necessary ACE functionality ready by mid-to-late April. When it’s operational, it should minimize submission requirements from importers and cut down on errors in refund calculations by CBP.

But they’ll also be checking for any other enforcement issues that might be outstanding, not to mention any records of payments importers owe to the government.

What about other tariffs apart from those ruled illegal under IEEPA?

Tariffs issued under Section 232 and Section 301 remain in effect and unchanged.

The best plan is to proceed as if this will remain the case over the long term.

Are any countries exempt from the 10 percent tariff issued under Section 122?

The Section 122 tariff is a global tariff. There are specific products exempt, in addition to Harmonized Tariff Schedule exemptions. But every country is subject to it.

Here is a list of current exemptions.

We will continue to update this space as more questions arise and more information is provided to Bestway. As always, we’re here for you.