Will Restaurants Receive Tariff Reimbursement?

A year ago, restaurant operators were among the many experiencing tariff anxiety and this year there is a new reason to be anxious as the process for tariff refund requests will start April 20 after the Supreme Court ruled the president exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose them.

What is the likelihood restaurants will be reimbursed? 

“Unless a restaurant operation was large enough to do its own importing, it has little chance of sharing in the refunds,” Peter Romeo, Managing Editor of IFMA, The Food Away from Home Association, told Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine. “The process spelled out by the Trump Administration starts off with proof of tariffs being paid. Unless a purveyor breaks out what portion of a restaurant's charges went directly to paying tariffs, there's no way of factoring out what portion of the price went toward tariff payments. Those surcharges were usually just factored into the price restaurants were charged. There's no easy way to break out what portion of the price increase was a direct result of the tariffs.”

He points out that some consumers have sued shippers like Fedex to get a share of the refunds with the object of likely some sort of settlement rather than a set formula entitling the customers to a percentage of the refunds. Even if they succeed, the process is likely to be a long one. For operators, they need to see if any link in their supply chain is willing to share any refund money they might receive, that extends back to distributors and manufacturers, Romeo noted.

The administration has submitted a plan to the U.S. Court of International Trade for disbursing refunds, and the IFMA details the proposed method here.  U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin accepting IEEPA tariff refund requests starting April 20 at 8 a.m. EST.

At present, most exporters to the U.S. are being charged a tariff of 10 percent on top of the duties they were paying before "Independence Day," or the day Trump revealed his surcharges. Donald Trump has said that he plans to hike the standard tariff to 15 percent, invoking a different law than the one the Supreme Court rejected as justification for the White House's duties. But it has yet to act. 

“The restaurant industry is hoping to preserve the exemption Trump granted on foods that can't be produced in the U.S., but that issue appears to be in limbo,” said Romeo, recommending that if operators do recoup any reimbursement down the road, they should use funds to offset food and labor inflation and freeze or even reduce menu prices. 

The court’s decision opened the door to an estimated $170 billion in refunds owed to importers, many of them small businesses that had been forced to absorb steep and unpredictable tariff costs, according to The Main Street Alliance. 

“Small business owners didn’t just sit back and absorb these costs, they fought back,” said Richard Trent, Executive Director of the Main Street Alliance. “From speaking out publicly to supporting legal challenges, Main Street made it clear that these tariffs were unlawful and unsustainable. This refund process is happening because small business owners demanded it.”

When the Supreme Court ruling was announced, Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS ) President and CEO Chris Swonger urged the administration to take the opportunity to secure a permanent return to zero-for-zero tariffs on spirits products with major trading partners, such as the EU and U.K. 

“The elimination of tariffs on distilled spirits would provide much needed certainty for American spirits exporters while helping ease financial pressures on bars, restaurants and retailers at a time when affordability remains a major concern for consumers.”

On the one-year anniversary of Canada removing U.S. spirits products from shelves, DISCUS released data revealing that American spirits exports have plunged 70 percent (March-Dec.) and  U.S. spirits exports to Canda reached $89 million in 2025, down nearly 63 percent from 2024, causing it to fall from the second‑largest export market for U.S. spirits in 2024 to the sixth‑largest in 2025.