Tariff Recovery Team, a new service aimed at helping importers recover IEEPA tariff refunds, has launched as companies work to navigate a complex, time-sensitive claims process following a recent Supreme Court ruling.
The platform is designed to help businesses identify and file refund claims through U.S. Customs processes, which are not automatic and must be submitted within rolling deadlines tied to individual import entries.
Sunshine Chapman, a wholesale importer and CMO of the Tariff Recovery Team, said the idea for the platform came directly from her own experience trying to pursue a refund. Chapman is an owner and president of Garden Works USA, which markets gardening accessories, as well as kitchen and household products under the Star Kitchen & Home brand and handheld umbrellas and tote bags under the Vinrella brand.
“I’m an importer myself. My company, Garden Works, paid over $200,000 in IEEPA tariffs — and when I tried to get into the ACE portal myself to start the process, I found it completely convoluted,” Chapman said. “I called CBP for help and sat on hold for four hours. That was the moment I realized someone needed to step in and actually help importers navigate this.”
She added that the challenge extends beyond her own business.
“And it wasn’t just me. I’ve been at markets and trade shows talking to other importers and everyone is running into the same issues. Nobody knows where to start,” Chapman said. “They’ve heard there might be a refund available, but have no idea how to actually pursue it. The frustration is universal — across industries, across company sizes.”
According to the company, the service focuses on managing the administrative side of the claims process, including pulling and reconciling customs entry data, identifying eligible IEEPA duties, calculating potential refunds and filing through available channels such as CAPE submissions or formal protests, depending on the status of the entry.
The process can involve multiple steps, including verifying importer-of-record status and tracking liquidation timelines, while some claims are subject to a 180-day window after liquidation before eligibility expires.
Chapman said the team began developing the service immediately following the court decision. The group behind Tariff Recovery Team previously led a government refund recovery operation that secured $12 billion in refunds for more than 77,000 businesses, Chapman noted.
“We started building (the tariff recovery service) the moment the ruling came down,” she said. “We recognized immediately what this moment was and what importers were going to need.”
She added that the goal is to help importers that may not have the internal resources to navigate the process on their own.
“The prompt was simple: we were the importer in this story. We knew what it felt like to not have a clear answer,” Chapman said. “We didn’t want other businesses to miss a legitimate recovery opportunity because the process was too complicated to figure out on their own.”
For more information, visit: https://tariffrecoveryteam.com
