After the courts struck down the IEEPA tariffs, importers gained a chance to recover duties they had paid. In a feature from Sourcing Journal, FlavorCloud founder and CEO Rathna Sharad explains why that recovery is far less straightforward for merchants shipping with carriers other than FedEx, UPS and DHL.
Rathna notes that smaller international carriers rarely have standard refund processes, leaving merchants to work through carrier specific policies, liquidation deadlines and customs rules. She estimates a large share of IEEPA duties is still recoverable, but only for importers who act before key deadlines, and points out that under DDU shipping the consumer is often the importer of record, which leaves the merchant with no path to a refund. As she puts it: "Outside of the global carriers, it is very nebulous."
The piece also covers what importers should do now, from confirming who served as importer of record to investing in accurate product data and compliance as customs agencies lean on AI to catch errors.
