Tariff Refund Reconciliation for Short Payments

Why refunds come back short

A short refund is not always an error. Many importers paid several kinds of duties on the same shipment, and only the IEEPA portion is being refunded. But some gaps are real and fixable. The common causes we look for:

• Stacked duties. Section 232 and Section 301 duties are not part of the IEEPA refund. If they were mixed into your estimate, the gap may be expected.
• Steel and aluminum content. From June 4, 2025, derivative products paid Section 232 duties on their metal content and the IEEPA reciprocal tariff on the rest of the value. Errors in how that split was reported flow straight into the refund.
• Entries left out. Entries that were not included in your claim, or that belong to a later CAPE phase.
• Interest. Refunds are generally paid with interest. Missing or miscalculated interest is worth checking.
• Refunds held up. Refunds can be held when CBP does not have valid ACH refund details on file.

How the reconciliation works

1. We walk you through pulling your own entry and refund reports from ACE. You keep your login. We never ask for it.
2. We line up every entry: IEEPA duties paid, amount refunded, date, and status.
3. We flag each gap and label it as expected, correctable, or needing a licensed professional.

You get a plain-English summary you can hand to your broker or an attorney, so they do not start from zero.