'Small Businesses Are Being Left Out of Tariff Refund Process, CBP Data Suggests'
(TPM) "Data shared earlier this week by U.S. Customs and Border Protection suggests the smallest and most vulnerable importers are being left behind in the early stages of the tariff refund process."
"After the Supreme Court overturned most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which the president issued under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, or IEEPA, Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade mandated that the federal government repay American importers for tariffs collected under the statute. CBP wrote in an early March court filing that there were about 330,000 importers eligible for a slice of the $166 billion in tariff refunds. In a March 30 court filing, Brandon Lloyd, executive director Trade Programs at CBP, wrote that 26,664 importers had signed up for the system, called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries or CAPE."
"The data shared by CBP, along with interviews with trade attorneys and advocates, shows that the biggest importers are first in line to get paid back. The disparity reveals the ways small business is continuing to be negatively impacted by Trump’s archaic tariff regime, even beyond eating the lion’s share of the levies."
"The first 26,664 importers registered for the automated CBP system account for $120 billion in refunds, Lloyd wrote. That means just about 8% of all importers paid more than 72% of all IEEPA tariffs for an average refund amount of more than $4.5 million. And that leaves more than 300,000 importers to collect the remaining $46 billion in refunds, or about $150,000 per firm."
"It suggests, experts said, that smaller firms are struggling to access the CBP system and collect on what the government owes them."
Continued at link:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/small-businesses-are-being-left-out-of-tariff-refund-process-cbp-data-suggests