This morning, April 20, U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBE) has unveiled an online portal to allow companies to begin the process of claiming refunds for tariffs that the Supreme Court deeemed illegally applied. More than $166 Billion in tariffs were imposed and paid by more than 330,000 importers prior to being struck down. The toy industry in particular was hard hit by these tariffs.
According to the government’s update website, the process “is designed to consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis. CBP plans to implement CAPE through a phased development approach, adding more functionality in subsequent phases for more complicated scenarios.”
Once a claim is filed, CBE says that it can take 60-90 days to begin receiving refunds. Not all tariffs will qualify for refunds, and the agency says that refunds will be processed in the order they were charged, starting with the most recent first.
It is anticipated that the portal will be one of the highest-trafficked sites on the Internet in the coming days. as companies scramble to claim the money. If they are successful, it will be a positive for the toy industry. However, exporters interviewed at Toy & Hobby China last week in Shenzhen noted that they are wary of the constantly shifting U.S. situation, looking to develop other global markets, and looking to develop other markets than the U.S.
