If you are new to tariff refunds, this guide is the place to start. It walks through the whole picture: what recovery is, who can do it, what is refundable, and how to actually claim. No jargon, no assumptions.
What tariff refund recovery is
Recovery is the process of getting back import duties you overpaid to CBP. Overpayment happens through misclassification, missed exclusions, and tariffs later found refundable. Recovery identifies those overpayments and files to reclaim them.
Who can claim
The party that can claim is the importer of record, the business that brought the goods in and paid the duties directly. If you paid higher prices to a supplier because of tariffs but were not the importer of record, the importer you bought from is the one who qualifies.
What is refundable
The main sources are Section 301 tariffs on China-origin goods, IEEPA duties that became recoverable after the 2026 ruling, exclusions you were entitled to but did not claim, and classification errors that inflated your rate. A review sorts the recoverable from the rest.
How to claim
You need an active ACE Portal account, then specialists review your entries, isolate recoverable duty, and file with CBP. A typical recovery moves in 60 to 90 days, and fees are success-based, so there is no upfront cost.
Your first step
The simplest way to begin is a free eligibility check. It takes about a minute and tells you whether a deeper review makes sense. If it does, we connect you with the Tariff Refund Agency's specialists to handle the claim.