Grand Junction business owner Abram Herman said he’s probably owed “tens of thousands of dollars” in refunds based on the import fees he paid in the past year that have since been ruled unlawful by the U.S. Supreme Court.
But his best guess on when he might get paid?
“What I’ve heard is that it may take up to a year or longer if there are additional court cases or other things,” said Herman, owner of The Sukkah Project, which sells “klutz-proof” tent-like structures used to commemorate the Jewish holiday Sukkot, when Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness after escaping slavery in Egypt. “Nobody knows at this point, I think.”
It’s been a little over a month since the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, were illegal. That has left many companies wondering if they’ll need to file a protest, a lawsuit or take other action.
“Apparently, we need to file a protest, which we are working with our customs broker to do,” said Gail Ross, chief operating officer of women’s outdoor clothing company Krimson Klover in Boulder, who called the process “still a bit muddy.”
Global trade experts say the process to get a refund has begun. Payments “are expected to be issued in phases and will likely take several months,” said Kate Rayer, the Denver-based vice president of regulatory services at Green Worldwide Shipping, which provides global trade consulting.
Earlier this month, the Court of International Trade ordered the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to start issuing IEEPA refunds. The customs agency said it would take 4.4 million staff hours to figure out how to return $166 billion to an estimated 330,000 importers. So, the international trade court gave CBP more time to build a new refund system.
The claim portal — called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE — was 73% complete as of March 19. It’s expected to open by mid-April, Rayer said.
When it is up and running, businesses can upload a list of impacted imports using a spreadsheet format. The claims will be processed, reviewed and recalculated (for legitimate tariffs) and if approved, sent to the importer’s account in ACE, the Automated Commercial Environment system that businesses use to report imports or exports.
“As designed, this will not be plug-and-play,” Rayer said in an email. “There will be nuance in how submissions are validated, processed, and what data can be included. Companies will be best positioned for early submissions by ensuring their entry data is clean, compliant, complete, and well-structured.”
She doesn’t recommend filing a protest yet because they may not even be required since “guidance is evolving,” plus a protest could delay a refund.
Colorado imports from China tank
Colorado importers paid $1.2 billion in tariffs between March 2025 and January, with about two-thirds of that amount estimated to be IEEPA related, according to We Pay the Tariffs, a consortium of small businesses in the U.S.
For those keeping track, a 10% tariff on global imports began Feb. 24, to replace the IEEPA fees ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. Exclusions do apply, including on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, which have a free-trade agreement with the U.S.
But last year’s high tariffs have taken a toll on Colorado importers, as they adjusted orders and sourcing. The biggest impact was seen in imports from China, which peaked at triple-digit rates for both countries.
According to January trade data published Wednesday, the value of Chinese imports to Colorado fell 31.3% in January from a year ago to $103.1 million. That’s about $70 million off from January 2024. Chinese export values to the state also fell 14.5% in the same period, according to U.S. trade data from the Census Bureau.
Herman, with the Sukkah Project, buys materials like its bamboo schach mats from China. He assembles the kits in Grand Junction. Before the Trump administration tariffs went into effect last year, he had hoped to actually reduce prices by about 9%, he said. Instead, the tariffs resulted in a 5% increase “and we also had a decrease in our profit margin.” In other words, the tariffs added about a 20% cost to products.
He said if he could buy everything needed in the U.S., he definitely would. But as other importers have mentioned, some materials just aren’t available here, especially on short notice.
“We’re importing bamboo mats and there is not bamboo agriculture at the level (in the U.S.) to sustain the products we’re having manufactured out of bamboo,” Herman said. “There’s no opportunity to reshore unless we’re looking at 10-year timelines to start a bamboo farm.”
Not all trade fell short. Trade with Colorado’s second top partner, Mexico, saw exports increase 3.3% to $146.2 million, while imports to Colorado were up by 0.9% to $77.2 million in January.
Overall in January, Colorado exports fell 1.6% to $816.1 million, and imports fell 5.9% to $1.2 billion from a year earlier.
The state’s import-trade partners with some notable import growth included Brazil, up 90.1%; Vietnam, up 73.8%; and Taiwan, up 51.8%. Countries where Colorado increased exports were Norway, up 230.3%; United Kingdom, up 76.5%; and the Netherlands, up 46%.
Getting prepped for refunds
According to the CPB report, only 6.5% of the impacted importers are fully set up to get paid electronically. Setting up ACE is a big first step, said Karen Gerwitz, president of the World Trade Center Denver.
“One thing is for certain, very few companies actually use the ACE portal, and they will need to have an account on ACE with their bank information included to be eligible to receive any refunds,” Gerwitz said in an email. “We are still waiting for more guidance on filing for refunds, but there are some things companies can do to audit their filings and make sure they have clean data on ACE.”
Gerwitz also shared a video of how companies can register in ACE.
Rayer, with Green Worldwide Shipping, discussed the process so far at a presentation by the World Trade Center Denver earlier this month. You can view the session on YouTube.
➔ Need help with tariffs and refunds? World Trade Center Denver received funding from the state’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade and is providing $1,000 worth of consulting support to eligible businesses. The one-on-one sessions with WTC Denver experts run through Aug. 17 on a first come, first served basis. >> Request help