How to Get a Tariff Refund
Thousands of businesses have a shot at getting some money back from the US government—but there will be a playbook.
Photo Illustration: Justin Metz for Bloomberg Businessweek; Photos: Shutterstock (11)
There is a shipping container full of van parts floating off the coast of South Carolina, and Harley Sitner can’t stop thinking about it. “I’m dying to see what the tariff bill is,” he says.
Sitner runs Peace Vans, a Seattle company that customizes vans for camping, outfitting them with pop-up roofs, storage compartments and fold-out furniture. The container in question holds “rock n’ roll beds,” van seats that recline into a bed, from Germany. How those seats are classified will determine what he owes. A few years ago, that question barely mattered, but since April 2, 2025—“Liberation Day,” when President Donald Trump unveiled his sweeping tariffs—it can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars.