America’s small businesses left out of Trump tariff refunds

{"text":[[{"start":7.7,"text":"When Tom England, the owner of toy shop Dancing Bear Toys, heard the US government would refund tariffs after a court ruled that most of Donald Trump’s levies were illegal, he was excited. "}],[{"start":20.05,"text":"But when he discovered what he would need to do to reclaim the thousands of extra dollars he had been forced to pay, he realised that recouping the money would be almost impossible."}],[{"start":29.5,"text":"“There is no refund,” he said. “Only a handful of people are going to be able to access this, and I can almost guarantee it will not trickle down to me. It’s just maddening.”"}],[{"start":39.45,"text":"Although US Customs and Border Protection was ordered by a court to set up a new system to refund levies after the president’s tariff regime was thrown out by the Supreme Court earlier this year, only the “importer of record” can use its website to register a claim."}],[{"start":56.1,"text":"This excludes small businesses who did not directly import products themselves, but in effect paid the tariffs, either through higher costs or itemised surcharges. "}],[{"start":65.55,"text":"England, who has run his toy shop on a side street of the small city of Frederick, Maryland, for 26 years, is one of more than 35mn small businesses in the US that have been hit by a toxic combination of tariffs, inflation and rising fuel costs. "}],[{"start":81.9,"text":"His suppliers, who provide him with board games, plush toys and small plastic action figures, have increased their wholesale prices by as much as 40 per cent to help cover the costs of tariffs."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":93.55000000000001,"text":"On Frederick’s busy South Market Street, Richard Bailey, a geologist, runs a dimly lit shop selling gemstones, crystals, minerals and small metal items, such as decorative coins, which he buys from speciality importers."}],[{"start":107.75000000000001,"text":"Despite seeing his prices increase substantially, Bailey said he too had given up any hope of regaining his tariff money, despite exploring CBP’s new refunds portal. "}],[{"start":118.05000000000001,"text":"“There is no way in hell small businesses will get this money back, only large corporations will be getting the refunds back,” he said."}],[{"start":126.05000000000001,"text":"Bailey said the cost of his polished stones had gone up considerably as they were typically imported from China, and the changing tariff had imposed great uncertainty on his finances. "}],[{"start":137.45000000000002,"text":"“That was a shit show last year,” he said, referring to Trump’s changing duties on China. “The tariff was either 50 per cent or 150 per cent.”"}],[{"start":147.05,"text":"He added that he would be speaking to his importer about refunds when attending a buyers’ event in the next two weeks. "}],[{"start":153.85000000000002,"text":"Noah Wilbur, who runs one of Frederick’s newest independent businesses, is in a similar situation with his nut shop, UR Nuts. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":162.35000000000002,"text":"Wilbur said he imported his nuts from speciality companies, and although he is convinced he is paying tariffs through higher prices, because he is not the original importer he stands no chance of reclaiming his money."}],[{"start":174.65000000000003,"text":"“My tree nut supplier imports nuts from across the world, and they pay the tariffs. But my nut prices have definitely gone up,” said Wilbur. “And then they went down a bit in the last few weeks when tariffs were reversed.”"}],[{"start":188.60000000000002,"text":"Even for businesses that are the importer of record, the refund process is not straightforward. According to a court filing from the US government earlier this month, fewer than one-fifth of importers had registered for an account with the online electronic payment system needed to receive the refunds. "}],[{"start":206.45000000000002,"text":"The first phase of the refund process would only process fewer than two-thirds of the entries subject to the illegal tariffs, the CBP estimated in the same filing."}],[{"start":216.75000000000003,"text":"Maria Peck, who has shelves of disembodied dolls’ heads adorned with bejewelled tiaras and crowns behind her cash register, directly imports some items to her shop."}],[{"start":225.75000000000003,"text":"“I don’t know anything about them,” said Peck, when asked if she planned to apply for a tariff refund. “I just don’t expect to get anything back.”"}],[{"start":233.00000000000003,"text":"Peck, who has run her business Tiara Day since 2006, said she estimated she had paid hundreds of dollars in tariffs on items from France, Israel and Canada."}],[{"start":243.60000000000002,"text":"She said even if the duties on goods decline, her importers now charge her a “fuel surcharge” to cover the increased cost of oil following Trump’s war on Iran. “It’s not worth it,” she added. "}],[{"start":255.20000000000002,"text":"England said he expected the higher prices for his imported toys to remain. "}],[{"start":259.95000000000005,"text":"“I can guarantee our suppliers won’t lower their prices again, even if they get refunds and don’t pay tariffs,” he said. "}],[{"start":274.15000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777891674_7141.mp3"}