Companies face a strategic choice

For many companies, asking the government for money back is no longer a back-office cleanup job. Refund claims tied to tariffs, tax credits and sanctions now sit alongside cash management, legal exposure and political risk. (cbp.gov) In customs law, a refund can be a formal right, not a favor. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says drawback refunds certain duties, taxes and fees after export or destruction of goods, and one trade rule lets importers seek post-importation refunds within one year when a product qualified for preferential tariff treatment. (cbp.gov) (ecfr.gov) The same government is still building new refund plumbing for newer disputes. Customs said it is developing CAPE functionality in the Automated Commercial Environment to process valid refund requests for duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, when a court order or other law allows repayment. (cbp.gov) That turns a filing decision into a capital-allocation decision. A company that pursues a refund may improve cash flow, but it also has to weigh supplier relationships, customer contracts, audit risk and the chance that a policy is reversed again before the money arrives. (occ.treas.gov) (pwc.com) Treasury teams sit in the middle because they already manage liquidity, hedging and covenant pressure. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says risk governance frameworks should give independent oversight of risk management, financial reporting and compliance, which is the kind of board-level structure companies use when policy choices start affecting enterprise value. (occ.treas.gov) The menu of policy reversals is wider than tariffs. The Internal Revenue Service says business credits can be carried forward or back under general business credit rules, and Treasury and the IRS finalized transfer rules for certain Inflation Reduction Act credits in April 2024, creating cash-value decisions that can change when guidance changes. (irs.gov 1) (irs.gov 2) Sanctions add another layer because permissions can exist in a license today and disappear tomorrow. Office of Foreign Assets Control rules say general licenses can authorize otherwise prohibited transactions under stated terms, and those authorizations are administered through a reporting and licensing system that companies must monitor continuously. (ecfr.gov 1) (ecfr.gov 2) Not every refund path is open, which is why the decision cannot be reduced to “claim everything.” Customs says some trade-remedy duties, including Section 232 steel and aluminum duties, are ineligible for drawback, so companies need product-level and program-level analysis before they book expected recoveries. (cbp.gov) Advisers now describe tariff planning the same way finance teams model interest rates or foreign exchange. Gartner published a tariff-response scenario planning tool in April 2025, and PwC says companies are using real-time modeling across tariffs, supply chains and financial impact as policy changes arrive faster than annual budgeting cycles. (gartner.com) (pwc.com) The practical question is no longer whether a company can file a claim. It is whether directors, treasurers and trade lawyers have agreed in advance which refunds to pursue, which to defer and which are not worth the legal and political cost. (occ.treas.gov) (cbp.gov)