If you used the shipping service over the past year, refunds could begin in August.
Although the federal program to refund duty charges that were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court has been slow to ramp up, FedEx says it will begin to return as much as $800 million to its customers. According to a published report on the online news service Supply Chain Dive, “The carrier will prioritize returning duties first to shippers that opt in to sharing shipment and refund data with vendor partners.” The news came on an earnings call earlier this summer from chief customer officer Brie Carere.
FedEx did say on its website, however, that it is still awaiting refunds for all shipments covered under the first phase of the refund process, noting that the US Treasury is sending refunds on a rolling basis. “FedEx remains fully committed to remitting all applicable duties — along with any accrued interest received from the US Treasury — as quickly as possible,” Supply Chain Dive reported, citing FedEx’s website. “At the same time, we are managing over 20 million entries with IEEPA duties across hundreds of thousands of accounts.”
FedEx said it is currently unable to offer reports of refund entries for each customer. That’s because the information “would be incomplete and would not provide an accurate refund estimate or a determination as to who ultimately bore the tariff charges,” the company said. Both UPS and DHL are also setting up systems to begin refunds, the website reported, with similar procedures expected.
Companies that used any of these shipping services during the period these tariffs were in place should contact the shippers through their websites to file claims and find out more details about refunds.
