Tariff Refund Recovery for SMB Importers
An AI assistant that walks small and mid-sized US importers through claiming the billions in tariff refunds newly owed after the Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs, from eligibility check to CBP filing.
Operations and finance staff at small/mid-sized import businesses without an in-house customs broker
- Eligibility scanner that ingests HTS codes, shipment dates, and entry numbers to flag which past imports qualify for refund
- Auto-generated CBP drawback and reliquidation paperwork with reviewer-ready audit trails
- Deadline tracker that pushes reminders before statute-of-limitations windows close for each entry
- QuickBooks and Xero connectors to auto-pull import records and reconcile against CBP filings
The Supreme Court has just ruled Trump's tariffs illegal and $81bn in refunds is being paid out — thousands of SMB importers don't have customs brokers on staff and the window to file is short.
Confirmed: SCOTUS struck down IEEPA tariffs Feb 2026, ~$175B in refunds owed, federal judge ordered refunds to begin March 2026, CBP launched CAPE portal April 2026; US Chamber explicitly published an SMB-focused IEEPA refund FAQ, signaling intense SMB demand.Supreme Court Trump tariffs ruling: Refunds could top $175 billion - CNBC ↗IEEPA Tariff Refunds: Guide & FAQ for Small Businesses - US Chamber of Commerce ↗Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs - AP News ↗
Crowded field: Zollback, Tariff Refund HQ, TariffLo, InteliGems, BITE, BrokerGenius, Amari and EntryPoint AI already market AI-driven tariff refund/drawback tools, several with SMB-friendly performance-based pricing — narrow differentiation needed.4 Best Tariff Refund Software: Automate Claims in 10 Days Instead of 9 Months - Zollback ↗Top 6 Platforms for Automated Customs Tariff Refund Processing with AI - InteliGems ↗BITE | AI-Native Trade Compliance & HTS Classification Software ↗
Strong WTP: ~80% of eligible refunds go unclaimed and traditional consultants charge $250-500/hr, while the dominant new model is performance-based (% of refund, no upfront) — easy to capture 10-20% of recovered duties on a $175B pool.4 Best Tariff Refund Software: Automate Claims in 10 Days Instead of 9 Months - Zollback ↗1 in 8 products overpay on tariffs. Find it free. - Tarifflo ↗
Refund window will largely close in 1-2 years once statute of limitations runs
Moderate: requires integrating with CBP's CAPE/ACE portal, parsing varied trade documents, HTS matching under TFTEA rules, and ideally partnering with a licensed customs broker for ABI filing — non-trivial but well-trodden by existing vendors.International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) Duty Refunds - CBP ↗4 Best Tariff Refund Software: Automate Claims in 10 Days Instead of 9 Months - Zollback ↗