Tariff Refund Paperwork Blindsides Small Importers

“Your supplier is lying to get a sale or doesn't understand the rules. It's pretty black and white. If your shirts are woven in the USA with USA grown cotton then yeah, if the shirts are imported then no. Up to a $50k fine per infraction if someone looks into it. But you're probably good for a qualified statement like made in the USA with global materials or assembled in the USA.”

“That distributor pass-through model is exactly the piece I’m trying to understand. since only the importer of record can file for remission, doesn’t that mean the actual claim sits with ThyssenKrupp, not you? Curious how common it is for smaller shops to buy through a service center vs import directly, since that changes who’s actually leaving money on the table. Also curious: does ThyssenKrupp ever itemize the surtax/PIE component separately on your invoices, or is it just baked into a blended”

“I buy almost all my metal through ThyssenKrupp. They ding me for incoming tariffs whenever they get hit (PIE - price in effect). I’ve never received a refund but I’d be very surprised they haven’t collected them It doesn’t make sense for me to buy my material directly from the US myself, mostly because my order volume is too small and I’m not properly set up for dealing with the logistics”

“Not sure how many people here import goods that touch steel/aluminum tariffs or the broader US-Canada surtax mess, but there’s a pattern I keep running into: government issues a new remission order that retroactively makes previously-surtaxed goods refund-eligible, and there’s no notification system. You only find out if your broker happens to flag it or you go digging yourself. If you’re a Canadian importer (or work with one), has this ever come up for you? Curious whether it’s something your c”

“What the title says. If this is you please message! submitted by /u/DefNotDalton [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone, I’m a small business owner currently scaling up my cross-border e-commerce operations. As the business grows, I’m encountering new challenges and would appreciate some guidance from those more experienced in logistics and customs. I have a high-value order that requires formal customs clearance, and I’m currently preparing the necessary documentation. I have prepared most of the documents, but I’m stuck on the logistics details required for the import declaration, specifically: Flig”

“Serious question. Between the IEEPA refund mess, the new 10% Section 122 thing expiring this month, and the Section 301 stuff that just dropped, I feel like the rules change every other week. Last time a rate changed on one of my categories I found out from a random LinkedIn post like 2 weeks after it already hit a shipment. Cost me real money. Is everyone just checking CBP manually?? Paying a broker to watch it? Or just eating it when it happens? Genuinely curious what people's setups are b”

“I'm new to importing and still learning about supply chain and logistics, so I'll be using a freight forwarder to handle my shipment. I'm planning my first import under FOB terms. The payment terms are 30% deposit and 70% before shipment . My question is about the Bill of Lading (B/L) . Since my freight forwarder is the one booking the container , I assumed the shipping line would issue the B/L to my forwarder. However, my supplier says they won't release the B/L to me until I pa”

“I'm new to importing and still learning about supply chain and logistics, so I'll be using a freight forwarder to handle my shipment. I'm planning my first import under FOB terms. The payment terms are 30% deposit and 70% before shipment. My question is about the Bill of Lading (B/L). Since my freight forwarder is the one booking the container, I assumed the shipping line would issue the B/L to my forwarder. However, my supplier says they won't release the B/L to me until I pay t”

“How is this OK?? Who authorized them? Thank you for your message. We understand your question regarding the Duty Tax Processing Fee, and we are happy to clarify. When a shipment is imported, customs authorities may apply duties and taxes based on the value and type of goods. To avoid delays in delivery, DHL pays these charges on your behalf so that your shipment can be cleared as quickly as possible. The Duty Tax Processing Fee ($17.50 USD) is a service fee charged by DHL for managing this proce”

What’s the alternative?

Eliquis is highway robbery

“A reminder for everyone that if you have an ACE account with the CBP for tariff refunds, you need to login every 40 days to keep it active or else it will be automatically deactivated. I found the link below which provides instructions on how to reactivate your account. Its very simple, just email their automated system and they will reinstate it within an hr. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCBP/bulletins/41c5845 submitted by /u/SirKarlMaloned [link] [comments]”

Duty is (in theory) based on the wholesale cost, not retail cost.

“Clearance is based on the product category, country of origin, and value. So indirectly them showing a lower value reduces the import duties you pay. It doesn't save them anything, although it means they can charge you less for shipping & handling. It's like sales taxes, reducing the duties they collect from you doesn't save them any money, it just means they don't have to collect as much from you to forward to the government.”

“Currently I have limited my sales to only the Canadian market. I want to sell to the US market but don't know the extra fees or tariffs that I would have to pay. What are the extra risks and protocols in selling over the border? submitted by /u/Beautiful_Celery_751 [link] [comments]”

“I'm going to link PirateShip's article on this topic. I feel it's important that sellers read the article and not just someone else's summary. But I still want to hit the biggest highlight right here: This change to Commercial Pricing will affect shipments to and from non-continental locations, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and military addresses. Continental shipments qualify for our below-Commercial Pricing rates, which will continue using ounce-based pricing for Groun”

“When submitting Kwong Abatements, how is everyone submitting? I was thinking of placing each 843 into its own envelope then placing those into a larger envelope with tracking to ensure all arrive at the same time in batches. I also heard people saying they need to be individually submitted with their own tracking. How is everyone approaching this? Tia submitted by /u/Denvergal85 [link] [comments]”

“Of course, trying to make sense of it with AI. This is not familiar territory for me or the brands I work with. If you can kindly point out where AI is misleading us, I would really appreciate that.”

“Hey everyone, I'm 23 and trying to figure out what career path to commit to. I recently heard about becoming a Customs Broker (formerly CHA), but I don't know much about it beyond the basics. I'd love to hear from people who actually work in the field. A few things I'm curious about: 1) What's the day-to-day job actually like? Is there still good demand for it? 2) Can someone starting from scratch at 23 build a solid career? 3) What's the pay and long-term growth like? 4)”

“Your notice is quoting the regulation correctly, Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, Article 2 literally says " EUR 3 per item. " So "per item, not per parcel" is correct. The catch is that "item" here is a customs term, not "per physical unit." The Commission's guidance points to the UCC definition (Art 1(61) UCC-DA): an item is " one or more goods in a consignment sharing the same tariff classification, description " (and origin). And it says”

“This is terribly flawed logic. Explain to me how “you ate the loss twice” please. You paid for products at a price in order to resell them. You did not have to pay that price or follow through on your transaction from your suppliers, you could have imported your own or found a cheaper supplier. Why would anyone ever think you are owed any money? You bought and paid for your goods in a transaction that was final. How much of this would you give to all of your customers if you could get it? By you”

“I'm curious where you read that the €3 is per HS Code, not per item - this is my official notice: From 1 July 2026, the EU is removing the EUR150 de minimis threshold, which means low-value parcels (under EUR150) entering the EU will now be subject to a flat-rate EUR3 customs duty (per item, not parcel).”

“Back by popular demand (people keep messaging me), here is CAPE Phase II, here is what you need to know: For the dummies Did you import products last year? If yes then you paid IEEPA tariffs, which were illegal, entitling you to a refund. CBP is rolling out refund eligibility in PHASES., which are determined by the type of entry you imported (more on this below) The administration doesnt want to give you your money back. Theyre already appealing to argue that importers who missed their PHASE I o”

“Is anyone else having problems with this since 1st July?? Initially I had some orders that were under €150 and there were no duties being charged. This morning I have seen orders that are being treated in the same way as orders over €150 (i.e the duty rate % not the flat €3 per item classification in line with legislation under July 2028). All of our EU territories are set to a DDP market and are set up collecting taxes and duties we have IOSS registration and have been including IOSS number in”

“Not going to pretend I've got this fully nailed, we've been working through the exact same thing for the EU brands we ship for, so this is "here's what we've pieced together," not gospel. A few things that finally made it click for us: The €3 is per tariff heading (HS code), not per parcel . Single-category orders are fine, but mixed baskets can get charged €3 per category, so it stacks. That one surprised us. IOSS still only covers VAT. The €3 duty sits outside it, whi”

“Small business owner here - my husband and I run an independent garden center in Montana. Wanted to share something I think a lot of small retailers are dealing with but maybe haven’t put into words yet. Back in Feb 2026, the Supreme Court ruled the IEEPA tariffs from 2025 were never legal. Since then, CBP has been refunding those tariffs - billions of dollars - but only to the importer of record. That’s usually not us. It’s our suppliers. Here’s the thing: we never paid those tariffs directly,”

“Applied in mid May after instructions were given on how to apply via the CBP.gov website: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/electronic-refund-enrollment-one-pager_508c.pdf To be honest the refund was faster than I anticipated and for how minimal the process was. The crazy thing is how there is how no confirmation other than seeing you uploaded a file to the portal and no notice of the refund arriving other than the funds hitting. For anyone that's sitting around waiting to do i”

“If using alis own shipping they already bulksplit it across the border as one large shipment as it passes customs/import. That has been the norm for quiet a few years now. Its usualy not split to single shipments before it hits the secondary shipper handling the domestic deliveries.”

“Hi there, I ship furniture and we have customers asking if we can ship to Canada. The problem is, it's a lot of work lol. I did it once, filled out a ton of paperwork, and now with tariffs, it's just like ugh. So I turn them down. But, I keep getting customers asking so I'm wondering if there's a way I can just pay someone to do the work for me, set up the shipment, etc. I can ship by UPS or LTL. submitted by /u/ClassicPearl1986 [link] [comments]”

“I have a project of import shipments in CA, flexibag with edible Oil weighing 49,500 lbs. going on a 22'GP . Most Carriers I've mailed have backed off as the max weight of cargo in the state should not exceed 44,000 lbs if the cargo is divisible (FMCSA). But is this rule applicable to import containers? Now the Cargo is not divisible because it's just one flexibag taking up the whole container. Route of my shipment goes through I-5. It's also coming out of examination. Let me kno”

“I'm looking for a trade intelligence platform for my import business. I import frozen buffalo meat from India into Saudi Arabia and am expanding to Bahrain and Qatar. I need shipment-level data (not just trade statistics), including: - Importer & exporter names - FOB/CIF values or price per kg - Shipment quantities - Shipment dates/frequency - HS code search (02023000) - Excel export I tried Volza, but it seems India → GCC shipment data is missing or limited. Is that true, or am I using”

“Shipper didn't mention it until after delivery. And carrier doesn't want to modify and deduct taxes. What's the best approach here? submitted by /u/Individual-Mouse5734 [link] [comments]”

“This is first ocean shipment I am expecting. Dont know anything about ISF until the company contacted me and ask for POA for ISF filing. It is already in US and it will reach to port on 5th july. Its was departed on May 17. The value is under $800. Please assist. POD is Huston . submitted by /u/Aggressive_Home_7045 [link] [comments]”

“Following up on the EU customs duty change taking effect July 1, there's now a real-world consequence playing out today, not in two weeks. DHL suspended its Globalmail service for EU-bound parcels containing goods, effective today, June 24. Last collection day was yesterday. Any EU shipment with goods after that gets returned to sender. Documents and printed matter are unaffected and can still be sent. DHL's own stated reason is specific and worth knowing if you ship with similar service”

“If you import physical inventory, your customs broker is probably overcharging you on duties by default. Every single item needs an hs code. Customs brokers are paid to clear freight fast, not save you money. They almost always default to the safest, most generic classification code for a product, which also happens to carry the highest tax rate. You can legally claw back overpaid duties from the government for up to 3 years, but cross-referencing thousands of line items on past entry logs again”

“Small physical product brand, source most of it from Asia, three part-time folks and a little warehouse. Been at this seven years. The last eighteen months of tariff changes did what seven years of normal competition never managed, which is make me sit down and rethink the whole thing. Here is where I landed and where I am stuck. Margins on the imported line got squeezed to almost nothing. I have a domestic supplier option that costs more per unit but kills the customs headache and the surprise”

“Quick follow up to the EU customs duty change taking effect July 1. There's already a workaround, and it's worth knowing if you're trying to compete with the big platforms on pricing. The new €3 per category duty only applies to parcels shipped from outside the EU. Shein and Temu's fix has been to label certain products "EU warehouse," meaning the item ships from inside Europe instead of directly from China, sidestepping the new duty completely. Shoppers in Latvia have”

“I'm posting on behalf of the Japanese company I work for that runs a large business in Japan but is expanding out into America. Recently, we got a notification in the Taxes & Duties section saying "You are not charging taxes on some product variants" as well as "Your store is out of compliance with state sales tax laws." - Based in Japan, owned by a Japanese person - Small inventory stock in Nevada - Less than $100 in sales from the American inventor”

“Seeing a few questions about this pop up so figured I'd break it down properly. Right now, orders under €150 shipped into the EU are exempt from customs duty (VAT still applies via IOSS, but no duty on top). From July 1, that exemption disappears. Every parcel into the EU attracts duty, regardless of value. What this changes in practice: - Landed cost goes up, especially on lower value items where duty as a % of order value was previously zero - Pricing models built around the duty free thre”

“I ordered a dress from the UK at the beginning of this mess when the tariffs were higher. The dress was $135, shipment was $25 and the tariffs were $236. At the time, most vendors I think had no idea what was going on. Pretty sure the gov't didn't either as I could not find good info on their website. Now vendors usually make a disclosure that you will be responsible. DHL would not release the dress to me until I paid the tariffs. I know that a couple small UK companies I liked shut down”

“From Canada, and honestly CARM has probably been the biggest one lately on the customs side. A lot of importers are still trying to understand what changed, what they’re responsible for now, and how to keep everything clean so shipments don’t get held up over account/security/payment issues. The other big one is the speed of AI. It’s useful, but things are moving so fast that it’s hard to know what’s actually worth implementing versus what’s just hype. Feels like every month there’s some new too”

“i sell over 10k products and now EU want me to fill all tariff/HS code in all products What to do here? submitted by /u/lune-soft [link] [comments]”

“I've taken a break from US orders so this is my first time shipping there since the tariffs etc came about. I sell art prints on Etsy, and I've got no problem with A4+ as I can use the DDP option of £12.55 for a large letter or small parcel for A3. But I'm a little confused about how to ship A5 prints. There's no DDP option for standard letter sizes through Royal Mail, but I know I still have to declare the goods - does that mean putting it down as a large letter but with A5 dime”

“So my manufacturer just sent me this long message about a new U.S. customs regulation going into effect July 8, 2026 where apparently all importers have to electronically file safety certificates through something called the ACE system or their goods get held at the border. I run a small clothing shop and buy through Alibaba so I was so confused reading this lol. After looking into it it seems like this might not even apply to small buyers like me and is more of a big importer problem but honest”

“Correct, you give a full refund on top of the duties import you allready payed through DDP”

“Hey everyone, just a heads-up on the new U.S. customs rules from the Trump administration. They just got way stricter. Here’s what’s changing for China-U.S. FBA and DDP shipments: New rules: 1) No more sharing IOR bonds. You need your own EIN and customs bond. Shared bond for DDP? Your cargo gets held and fined. 2) All DDP goods from China to Amazon are now “5H” high-risk. Customs will check declared value, UFLPA compliance, product certs. Low declaration = big penalties. 3) They’ll compare your”

“You'll need a consumption entry BUT use an LCB. There are carve outs for tools and research equipment. Also for temporary imports.”

“Long story short, my dad bought a small dumper from alibaba and now FCCUSA.net is requesting a power of attorney, ID and social security # to process it though customs. I’ve never imported anything, is this standard practice? Just a little cautious with giving out social security. Edit; the company is based out of California but he’s supposed to receive it in Chicago submitted by”

“Honestly the EO looks good on paper but enforcement is the bottleneck. CBP already struggles with misclassified HTS codes on high-volume entries. The bond and asset thresholds will squeeze shell IORs, though.If you're cross-border CA-to-US, I switched to Transport S&H after the de minimis changes, has details on their vetting process”

“Actually its very little compliance for companies doing the right thing. They are already properly set up as an importer, pay bonds, and have a US registration. its the fly-by-night folks who love to skip town when the bill comes due that need to worry. Legitimate companies that follow the regulations actually have zero to worry about.”

“Hi! There's a lot that can be true from your statement, but this is a very well thought out plan. This law was pushed by AEBA, a group of large Amazpn sellers pushing for level playing field against Chinese competitors.”

“Every barrier they add just makes things harder for small US companies and barely changes anything for large foreign firms. There are so many ways around foreign ownership that it isn't even a problem for them, plus it only sounds like they want ownership information not that it must be a US owner.”

“The way it’s written they can’t just set up shop, stay Chinese owned, and carry on like a domestic company. They would need US ownership to be treated like a domestic company…. Time will tell. Maybe this is a step in the right direction.”

“Fucking tired of this. All this means is Chinese companies set up domestic offices to bring things in at cost, while small US companies get fucked.”

“More compliance required from importers already doing the right thing. Meanwhile, and I mean this as a compliment, Chinese sellers will figure out a way to game the system. They’re extremely agile and not afraid to do so. Sprinkle on top- it’s an EO from Trump so it’s going to be poorly thought out, weakly implemented, and temporary at best.”