Other shipping services like UPS and DHL are also expected to start issuing refunds next month but FedEx looks like they will be first out of the gate in refunding duty charges that were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
FedEx says it plans to refund as much as $800 million to its customers.
According to a published report on the online news service Supply Chain Dive, “The carrier will prioritize returning duties first to shippers that opt in to sharing shipment and refund data with vendor partners.” The news came on an earnings call earlier this summer from chief customer officer Brie Carere.
How quickly that $800 million will be refunded remains to be seen as FedEx said on its website that it is still awaiting refunds for all shipments covered under the first phase of the refund process, noting that the US Treasury is sending refunds on a rolling basis. “FedEx remains fully committed to remitting all applicable duties — along with any accrued interest received from the US Treasury — as quickly as possible,” Supply Chain Dive reported, citing FedEx’s website. “At the same time, we are managing over 20 million entries with IEEPA duties across hundreds of thousands of accounts.”
Both UPS and DHL are also setting up systems to begin refunds, the website reported, with similar procedures expected. So, if you used any of these shipping services over the past year, there should be a refund coming your way. It’s just a question of when.