Tariff uncertainty bites projects
Legal challenges to broad 10% global tariffs and a new Customs refund tool are creating procurement uncertainty for construction buyers. U.S. trade courts are weighing the legality of the tariff basis while Customs prepares a refund mechanism for importers, both developments that can keep project costs and supplier planning unstable (reuters.com) (bloomberg.com).
A builder ordering steel beams or elevator parts now has to price two opposite futures at once: tariffs might stick, or tariffs might be refunded later. United States Customs and Border Protection said on April 10 that importers can start filing some refund claims on April 20, even as a trade court is still weighing whether the 10% global tariffs were lawfully imposed. (cbp.gov) (bloomberg.com) (reuters.com) For construction buyers, that turns a purchase order into a moving target. A shipment that lands this month could carry a 10% duty at the border, but the buyer may not know for weeks or months whether that cash is a final cost or a temporary deposit. (reuters.com) (cbp.gov) The legal fight is about the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law presidents usually use for emergencies involving foreign threats. Customs says its new refund system is specifically for duties imposed under that law, which shows the court battle and the refund tool are tied to the same tariff program. (cbp.gov) (reuters.com) The refund tool itself is not a giant “money back” button for every importer on day one. Bloomberg reported on March 31 that the first version is expected to handle claims for about 63% of the 53 million import entries at issue, leaving roughly one-third outside the initial launch. (bloomberg.com) (cbp.gov) Even the companies that can file right away have to fit Customs’ plumbing. Customs said refund declarations will be limited to the importer of record or its customs broker, and filers need an account in the Automated Commercial Environment, the government’s main import-processing system. (bloomberg.com) (cbp.gov) That matters on a job site because the importer is not always the company eating the cost. A contractor may buy curtain wall, switchgear, or piping from a distributor, while the distributor or broker is the one that actually filed the customs entry and would have to chase any refund. (cbp.gov 1) (cbp.gov 2) Customs is also moving refunds into direct electronic payment, which sounds simple until you remember how many companies still run trade paperwork through older systems. The agency said electronic refunds became the standard in early 2026, and ACH bank enrollment is required in most cases. (cbp.gov 1) (cbp.gov 2) (cbp.gov 3) The court side has been messy enough that Customs previously told a judge it could not immediately stop processing the tariff collections the way the order required. Bloomberg reported on March 6 that a judge then suspended the immediate-compliance piece after a Customs official said the agency’s procedures and technology were not built for that sudden switch. (bloomberg.com) So buyers are left making real-world decisions with courtroom logic hanging over them. They can delay orders, pay more for domestic substitutes, or import now and hope the paperwork eventually turns a tariff bill into a refund. (reuters.com) (cbp.gov) That is why a 10% tariff can freeze much more than 10% of a project budget. When the legality is unresolved, the refund system is only partly live, and the cash has to be paid before the answer arrives, every imported component starts behaving like a price with an asterisk. (reuters.com) (bloomberg.com) (cbp.gov)
