By Timothy Aeppel
May 12 (Reuters) – Heavy-truck maker Oshkosh Corp and toy maker Basic Fun on Tuesday both said they had received partial payments of the refunds they had sought of the import tariffs they had paid under the Trump administration that were invalidated earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The payments mark a milestone in a fraught battle over the taxes. The U.S. government has been ordered to refund up to $166 billion to importers after the tariffs were deemed illegal, and doubts have lingered about whether a last-minute move by the Trump administration could still stall or slow the process.
“The issue is will the funds flow like a river or fire hose or like a stream or garden hose,” Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun, which sells Tonka trucks, Care Bears and K’Nex construction toys, said in an email. “So far, the funds are trickling out but they have started.”
Foreman said he received $400,000 out of his $7.4 million in claims. Oshkosh hasn’t disclosed the amount it is seeking, but the company acknowledges it started receiving a portion.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a Tuesday court filing that it anticipates paying refunds of $35.46 billion on 8.3 million shipments that have been processed as of 7 a.m. Eastern time on May 11.
That is just a small slice of the money expected to be returned.
As of early April, the CBP said importers had completed the necessary steps to get refunds totaling $127 billion, or more than three-quarters of the total eligible to be refunded. More than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs on 53 million shipments.
Meanwhile, another front of the battle over refunds is opening, as customers who paid additional costs to cover all or part of the taxes are now seeking those refunds passed along from importers who get payments from the government.
Jim Estill, CEO of appliance importer Danby, said he hasn’t received any refunds yet. But he has heard from two customers asking for a share when he does get the money.
“When we get a refund, we’ll look at giving a refund to some of those customers,” he said. “But we haven’t committed to anything because we haven’t received any refund yet.”
He noted that the original tariffs were partially absorbed into his costs, rather than passed through in prices, and that it cost money to seek a refund.
“We used a consultant to help us file this and they get a percentage of the refund,” he said.
(Reporting by Timoty Aeppel; Additional reporting by Tom Hals; Editing by Mark Porter, Aurora Ellis and Daniel Wallis)
