Will businesses get a tariff refund from the Trump administration? A judge ordered it yet the administration is claiming that technical hurdles may prevent them from complying. You may recall that Trump initiated the tariffs without authority to do so because he felt our country was being taken advantage of. Good intentions aside, our Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to levy taxes and that’s why the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s tariffs were illegal. Now the money collected must be returned to the 330,000 businesses that were impacted by the tariffs, all $166 billion. 

Initially business owners worried they’d have to file individual lawsuits against the administration to get a refund which was concerning. 97% of all U.S. importers are considered small business owners. The tariffs had already caused a hardship so the thought of being forced to pay legal fees to recoup losses caused by the tariffs was salt in the wound. 

The good news is, U.S. Customs officials are putting a plan in place and that will allow them to use same portal importers currently use to track and file customs to issue tariff refunds. Not all tariff money will be refunded, only the tariffs imposed by Trump in the IEEPA were deemed to be illegal. Who qualifies for a refund? Only businesses that paid tariffs directly to import goods to sell to consumers qualify to get a refund. As of now, the process to distribute the money is not in place. Businesses should continue to check the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol websitefor updated information.