Import Tariff Refund Update

We wanted to take a moment and share another update about our progress in seeking and securing refunds for the illegal import tariffs charged by the Trump administration over the last year and a half.

As mentioned previously, we are working through a substantial and somewhat foggy bureaucratic process. The import tariffs were easy to pay when our products were hostage at port, but receiving refunds for tariffs, now that they have been deemed illegal, is (not surprisingly) a more complex process.

In order to be assured the fastest process with the greatest support, we have been working with the speciality team at our customs brokerage firm that was set up to help recover refunds. This team requires payment in the form of a portion of the funds recovered (5%), plus a retainer fee, for their services. It is a lot of work and support. We understand the need for these fees.

We are not planning to keep any of the recovered funds ourselves, even though we are due paid import tariffs for unsold products, have lost wages due to time spent invoicing and adjusting tariff fees, spent time lobbying and fighting for refunds, and will lose more time to processing these refund payments. We will give back all the funds that are returned to us. That is our promise to you.

The first of the refund payments was transferred to our company checking account from the government last week. It constitutes only $1,878.73 of the over $99,000 due to us through this process. A rather disappointing start. We’ve been told that the government will be rolling out the remaining payments in July.

We’re placing the funds we receive back into a savings account for safe keeping. When we have received all the refunds available to us, we will re-distribute them equitably to all customers who had to pay tariff fees.

Due to the recovery fees for the customs brokers, it will not be a complete refund, even if we are able to recover the full amount due to us. But it should be a substantial amount, if what we are promised does come back to us.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about tariff refunds.

Products that were imported and that are in stock for shipping now, still carry the tariff fees. We had to pay those fees in order to get the products through customs. They appear on the line labeled “fee” on your invoice.

These products were brought into the US during the IEEPA (International Emergency, Economic Powers Act) tariff period, or the Trade Act of 1974 that was applied immediately after the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs. The application of the Trade Act of 1974 tariffs has also been deemed illegal, but the Trump administration has again appealed the order. A higher court will have to weigh in, once again.