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Duty refund audit · 15% contingency

Recover the tariffs you weren't supposed to pay.

The Supreme Court struck down the 2025 IEEPA emergency tariffs, and CBP is refunding them right now, billions already paid back. If you imported in 2025, we find what's recoverable, a licensed broker files it, and you only pay when CBP pays you.

The government has moved to appeal the order that lets all importers claim. While it stands, the path is open to everyone who paid. Filing now protects your claim.

Free audit. Just your email to start.

  • Free audit. No card, no obligation.
  • A licensed broker files. You sign, we submit.
  • 15% only if CBP pays you. Otherwise nothing.

We reply within 24 hours with a first read. Full audit takes 3 to 7 business days.

Which tariffs are recoverable?

The short answer: the duties courts actually struck down, plus duty you simply overpaid. Mainly:

  • IEEPA emergency / reciprocal tariffs (2025). The main recoverable layer. The Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that these exceeded the president's authority, and CBP began refunding them through its CAPE portal in April 2026. If you paid them, this is where the money is.
  • Misclassified Section 232 steel/aluminum applied to derivatives that fall outside the formal tariff line.
  • Plain classification overpayments. Duty paid on a higher-rate HS code when a more favorable, defensible one applied.

Not the Section 301 China tariffs. Those are still in force and the recent rulings did not void them, so they are generally not refundable. Anyone promising you a "Section 301 refund" is selling you something that mostly isn't there. We tell you the difference.

Whether you can recover depends on which tariff you paid, when, and the duty line that was applied. That's what the audit determines, before you owe a cent.

The refunds are real, and they are flowing now

This is not a theory about what a court might do. The Supreme Court decided it in February 2026, and the Court of International Trade ordered CBP to return the duties. CBP built a dedicated refund system, CAPE, inside its ACE portal and switched it on in April 2026. Importers are being paid back right now: tens of billions of dollars in IEEPA duties have already been accepted for reliquidation, principal plus interest.

Once a claim is accepted, CBP generally issues the refund within 60 to 90 days, electronically. The hard part is not the law. It is identifying every eligible entry, separating the refundable IEEPA duty from the Section 301 surcharge that stays, and filing before each entry's window closes. That is the work we do.

Can you actually claim? The importer-of-record rule

One rule decides this, and most sellers get it wrong. Only the importer of record on the customs entry (box 22 of the CBP 7501), or the licensed broker who filed it, can claim the refund. If you imported under your own name or EIN, that is you.

If you shipped DDP and your supplier was the importer of record, the refund right sits with them, not you, unless they assign it to you. This is the single most common reason a claim fails, and the first thing our free audit checks. We tell you straight whether the money is yours to claim.

How the audit works

  1. You send us your customs records. CBP form 7501 entries, broker statements, or CBP ACE export. We can also pull from your customs broker directly.
  2. We cross-reference each entry against the voided-tariff regimes and check whether your classification was the most favorable available.
  3. We deliver an audit report. Per-entry: amount paid, amount potentially recoverable, basis for the claim, deadline to file.
  4. You decide what to file. If you want us to file, we draft the protest or post-summary correction, you sign, we submit.

Pricing

Audit: free. No upfront cost. No obligation to file.

Filing: 15% contingency on recovered amount. If CBP issues a refund, we take 15%. If nothing comes back, you owe nothing. We cover all administrative costs.

For very high-volume importers ($5M+/yr) we offer flat-fee filing arrangements. Ask.

Typical recovery runs from a few thousand dollars for a small FBA seller to six figures for a B2B importer, depending on your 2025 volume and origin mix. The audit tells you your number before you decide anything.

Your records stay yours

We use your customs data only to run the audit and, if you choose to proceed, to file your claim. We don't sell it or share it. The filing itself is handled by a licensed US customs broker, you sign before anything is submitted, and you can walk away after the free audit owing nothing. HS Mate is built by the team behind automano.com.

Who we work with

  • Amazon FBA sellers who imported from China in 2024-2025
  • Shopify and DTC brands with manufacturing in tariff-affected origins
  • B2B importers with annual customs spend over $50k
  • Customs brokers who want to offer refund services to their clients (referral split)

What you'll need ready

  • CBP form 7501 entries from 2024 and 2025 (we can pull from your broker)
  • Product descriptions or invoice line items for each entry
  • Country of origin documentation

Start the free audit ↑