The news on his phone left Richard Brown so stunned he stumbled past the exit of the bagel shop where he was grabbing breakfast. Then he couldn’t find his car in the parking lot.
On that February day, the Supreme Court had struck down most of President Trump’s tariffs, which business owners like Brown had been paying for almost a year. Brown’s thoughts tumbled: How would U.S. Customs refund duties it had illegally collected? When would he get his money back?
Brown kept an audio diary of his efforts and shared it with NPR. His experience illustrates a growing worry among trade experts: thousands of U.S. businesses may never reclaim the billions in tariff dollars the government promised to return.
“I didn’t realize that the person gave me my bagel, that I could leave, I forgot how doors functioned,” Brown recorded. “This is a win… I am elated. I can’t wait—this is going to be a hot mess.”
Immediately after the court ruling, Trump and other officials warned that refunds would be complex and could take years. Big companies such as Costco and Revlon preemptively filed lawsuits to claim refunds; many businesses consulted lawyers and customs brokers. Brown had none of that. Proof Culture is essentially him in Ohio, his friend Erron Combs in Virginia, and occasional help from his father. They sell sneaker accessories—laces, cedar shoe trees, storage boxes, crease protectors—and only started importing three years ago.
They estimate Customs owes them up to $25,000 in tariff refunds. It’s not life-changing, Brown says, but it amounted to roughly 10% of Proof Culture’s revenue last year—money that would buy inventory and advertising.
Like many small importers, they relied on freight forwarders and supplier-handled logistics. They paid the bills, received the goods and left customs paperwork to others. To get a refund, that had to change. Brown spent weeks digitizing purchase orders, building a basic AI tool to track shipping invoices, and leaving voicemails for Chinese freight forwarders when paperwork was missing.
Complicating matters, the administration quickly introduced replacement tariffs using new legal justifications, and shipments arrived with ever-changing customs fees. In early March, Customs said it would build an online refund-claim system so businesses wouldn’t need to sue. That relieved Brown about litigation, but meant learning a customs portal he’d never used.
“We’re not equipped to deal with this,” he recorded. “It is a shame that the government recognizes that they’re not equipped to deal with it to the extent that they’re now passing it on to us. This wasn’t my problem. And now you’re telling me if I want my money back, figure it out. That sucks.”
Brown had day-to-day demands: tax season, family responsibilities, running the business. Even when Customs told a court the portal was nearly ready and would handle the vast majority of shipments, that assurance depended on the assumption that most importers could quickly prepare claims. In reality, more than two-thirds of importers were not ready. NPR reported many small businesses faced technical errors, trouble logging into the portal, and hours-long hold times with no answer from Customs.
When the portal opened on April 20, some businesses filed claims in minutes. Brown was not among them and remains unfiled. Trade experts warned the manual, non-automated process risks shortchanging many companies. Analysts at the Cato Institute wrote that “intentionally or not, the federal government will likely keep tens of billions of dollars it should have returned to importers months ago.”
In an update about a week into the refund window, Customs said it had rejected more than a third of filed claims for technical or data errors; importers can refile. As of April 26, the agency said it had accepted claims covering about a fifth of the shipments for which refunds are owed.
For small businesses, every dollar matters. Brown and Combs are still preparing to file their claim, but the effort competes with the work that keeps the lights on.
“I can’t chase every fire,” Brown says. “Right now, I feel like a firefighter.”