Wisconsin Businesses Could Recoup Millions Paid in Illegal Tariffs
Businesses cut staff, wages. Wonderstate Coffee spent $100,000 on import duties.
Shipping containers on a Canadian Pacific train as seen from the Kinnickinnic River Trail. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Businesses in Wisconsin and across the country can now apply for refunds for the money they paid in Trump administration tariffs that were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, launched a new system Monday to allow importers to apply for their share of $166 billion paid in tariffs later deemed illegal.
The new Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries system, known as CAPE, already faced technical troubles Monday morning due to high traffic volume, according to Main Street Alliance National Campaigns Director Shawn Phetteplace. CBP has said it is looking into reported issues with the system.
Phetteplace’s nonprofit is working with small businesses to apply for these refunds, and he told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that the relief is much needed.
“A lot of these business owners have cut staff, they’ve cut wages,” Phetteplace said. “They’ve had to really decrease their growth plans because of this, and they need to get that money back.”
He gave the example of Viroqua-based Wonderstate Coffee, which spent over $100,000 on import duties for their coffee beans and other materials.
Businesses can only apply for the refund on imports they made directly. So if they purchased goods through a supplier who charged them a higher price due to tariffs, that added cost for the business will not be refundable.
“It is possible that some suppliers will receive the tariff (refund) and return some of that money to their customer businesses, but it’s not guaranteed, and it’s not required,” Phetteplace said. “It’s going to be a very chaotic process because of that.”
The same is true for consumers, who may have paid more if businesses raised their prices as the costs from tariffs trickled down.
CBP is trying to streamline the process for importers by allowing them to apply for their refund all at once, rather than having to refund each transaction individually.
The Milwaukee customs broker M.E. Dey & Co. is applying for refunds on behalf of importers. CEO Sandi Siegel told “Wisconsin Today” that some of her clients paid millions of dollars in just the last year.
“The importer just has to provide a list of all the entries that had these duties, and customs is going to validate that list,” Siegel said. “They’re going to recalculate each of the entries as if there were not duties due and issue the refund.”
Businesses of all sizes are still paying tariffs that are separate from those deemed illegal by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump issued a proclamation implementing a 10 percent global import surcharge in place of the tariffs that were struck down. That surcharge will expire in July unless it is extended by Congress.
Siegel said tariffs for steel, copper and aluminum were raised to 50 percent on April 2, and these continual changes are creating their own set of challenges.
“The duties that are temporary and set to expire, most people in the trade don’t think that will get extended,” Siegel said. “The uncertainty is the worst part of all of this in regards to planning and the ability to forecast and set pricing.”
The uncertainty will continue into the summer, as the United States-Mexico-Canada, or USMCA, trade agreement is up for renewal July 1.
Wisconsin businesses could recoup millions paid in illegal tariffs was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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