Local experts say consumers and small businesses might not benefit from new tariff refund portal

The federal government is giving companies the opportunity to file claims for tariff refunds, following the Supreme Court’s Feb. 20 ruling that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs were unconstitutional.

On Monday, the government launched the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries’ (CAPE) new tariff refund portal. But local trade and business experts say consumers and small businesses probably won’t be seeing the money.

CAPE is designed to consolidate refunds issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency administering the system.

Keith Donnelly, a clinical assistant professor of business administration at University of Pittsburgh, said the refund is designed to “target the big players.”

Tariffs are paid by importers, and some companies pass on the tax costs to consumers via higher prices. The CAPE system refunds tariffs directly to the businesses that paid them. The businesses are not obligated to share the proceeds with customers, Donnelly said.

But smaller businesses and consumers that absorbed the costs may see a more indirect, complex process to get the refunds, according to experts.

Business lawyer Matthew Herron, founder of Herron Business Law in Shadyside, noted that some large companies have announced the refund will result in lowered prices for items.

Herron pointed to Costco as an example. Customers filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, arguing that since Costco raised prices due to tariffs, customers should get money back. CEO Ron Vachris pledged to turn any refunds into “lower prices and better values” for members, as reported by Forbes.

Costco was among several companies that challenged the legality of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in December. Some of the other companies included FedEx, Walmart, Staples and L’Oréal.

Other companies could follow suit.

“There’s ambiguity around what they’re going to do,” Donnelly said.

The program is being deployed in phases.

The first phase is limited to cases in which tariffs were estimated but not finalized or within 80 days of a final accounting.

Each individual CAPE Declaration has a limit of 9,999 entries. Importers and brokers can file multiple CAPE Declarations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.