FedEx, UPS and DHL Express have each outlined how they plan to return tariff refunds to customers following the launch of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection refund system for now-invalidated International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs.
CBP launched the dedicated refund system on Monday. The first phase covers entries liquidated within the previous 80 days. Once an entry is submitted and accepted, the agency says it will take approximately 60 to 90 days to issue the refund.
FedEx said it will file refund declarations with CBP on behalf of customers for whom it acted as customs broker. The company stated that once it begins receiving refunds from CBP, it will pass back the IEEPA tariff amounts originally paid by those customers.
UPS said that for shipments where it acted as the importer of record, it will work to request and retrieve IEEPA tariff refunds from CBP on behalf of customers. However, the company noted that it cannot issue any refunds until the money is received from the government. Once funds are received, UPS said it has established a process to return the money to the original payors.
DHL Express said it will automatically submit refund claims for eligible entries covered under the first phase of CBP’s rollout. Like FedEx and UPS, DHL said it will return refunds to the party that originally paid the duties.
Where the DHL customer acted as importer of record, the customer may also file claims directly through CBP or through an authorised representative. DHL added that if it provided customs brokerage services, customers can also request that the company file the refund claim on their behalf.
CBP executive assistant commissioner Susan S. Thomas said in a video posted to LinkedIn that on the first day of the system’s launch, more than 55,000 parties filed claims covering over 4 million imports.
