How to get a refund for Trump tariffs struck down by Supreme Court

Refunds for illegal U.S. tariffs are starting to flow to businesses , and consumers could get a cut from companies that have vowed to share that financial relief with customers.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency can only issue tariff refunds to the so-called importer of record — the entity that directly paid one of the emergency tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year. But businesses that receive refunds for International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, tariffs can choose to keep them in their entirety or pass along some of the money to consumers.

To date, the U.S. government has refunded more than $100 billion in IEEPA tariffs to businesses, or about 60% of what it owes importers, according to a court filing earlier this month.

"There's no way for consumers to get money from customs," Rathna Sharad, CEO of FlavorCloud, an international logistics company that handles customs paperwork for retailers, told CBS News. "If they get them at all, it's directly from carriers who decide to send them refunds."

Although importers aren't legally obligated to refund customers, some businesses have pledged to do so when the tariff cost can be differentiated from an item's total price. UPS, FedEx and DHL have each committed to send refunds to customers on a rolling basis as the U.S. government repays the delivery companies for IEEPA tariffs and have set up refund portals for customers.

Other corporations have been more opaque about issuing rebates to shoppers. For example, Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said on an analyst call that the online retailer has "identified a limited set of circumstances where we can trace that we pass specific import charges on to customers."

In those cases, Amazon "will proactively contact affected customers and automatically issue refunds to them," he added.

If you paid tariffs on an online purchase shipped via UPS, FedEx or DHL, you can visit the shippers' websites for refund information.

On its refund portal , UPS said it is passing the company's refund claims on to consumers as it receives money from the federal government. In April, UPS said it expects to receive $5 billion in tariff refunds. The shipper has not indicated that customers must take any action, such as file a claim, to be eligible for reimbursement.

In the first phase, UPS applied for $500 million in refunds and said customers' refunds should arrive within one to three months after it receives reimbursement from the Treasury.

FedEx has said it is issuing $800 million in refunds to customers billed for the IEEPA duties. "If refunds are issued to FedEx, we will issue refunds to the shippers and consumers who originally bore those charges," FedEx said in a statement earlier this year.

The delivery giant also has a portal where consumers can track the status of refunds. Consumers who placed an online order with a retailer can enter the shipment's tracking info on FedEx's site.