UPS said on Tuesday it is filing claims with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to recover some tariffs paid under President Donald Trump’s administration, joining FedEx and DHL as major shippers move to reclaim money after a Supreme Court ruling in February found the levies were illegally imposed. The claims are being routed through a new CBP portal that opened on Monday for businesses seeking refunds tied to the tariffs.
The refunds concern tariffs imposed under Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a trade tool that swept into supply chains and left many import charges embedded in shipping bills. CBP said successful applicants should receive refunds within 60 to 90 days of claim approval, but only the importer of record can file through the CAPE portal, which means individual consumers cannot go in directly and ask for their money back.
UPS said that for shipments where it was the importer of record, it will seek and retrieve the refunds from CBP on customers’ behalf. “For shipments where UPS was the IOR, we will work to request and retrieve IEEPA tariff refunds from CBP on our customers' behalf,” the company said. UPS added: “There is no need for those customers to contact UPS. After we receive the funds from CBP, we have established a process to issue refunds to the payors.” It also said it cannot pay customers until the federal government sends the money.
FedEx said it is filing declarations for eligible entries where it served as a customs broker and will reimburse the shippers and consumers who originally bore the charges if the government approves the claims. “Our intent is straightforward: if refunds are issued to FedEx, we will issue refunds for IEEPA tariffs paid to the shippers and consumers who originally bore those charges,” the company said. DHL said it began submitting claims as soon as the portal opened and that it “will pass the refund to the party that originally paid the duties.”
The three companies did not disclose how much they are seeking back, but the mechanics of the process are clear: the money must first go to the importer of record, then move down the chain to the customer who paid the duty. Kacie Wright, who said her company faced added costs from the tariffs, said she cannot file a claim herself because her shipments moved through UPS or DHL as the importers of record. “We used services like UPS or DHL, which are the importers of record. So they need to get refunds, which they'll then pass on to us,” she said. “I hope they process the refunds. I hope they get it done.” Trump, asked about the claims, said on CNBC that he will “remember” U.S. companies that do not submit CAPE declarations and said it would be “brilliant” if firms did not ask for refunds.
