Sarah Wells

She sells products like whiskey haggis sauce and shortbread.

It took a few tries to get her $23,000 claim through the system.

At around 3 p.m., she finally got to celebrate.

Kinda.

Robinson still has to chase down 10 grand from FedEx, DHL and UPS because though she paid tariffs on those shipments, the logistics companies were technically the importers and have to file claims on her behalf.

Meanwhile, she's just feeling uneasy.

What if her claim is delayed or the government appeals the tariff ruling or finds a new way to make temporary tariffs in place now permanent?

I have to assume it's at least as much that our government at this point in time is going to continue to try to find ways to take out of the pockets of tens of thousands of small businesses in order to cover a huge deficit.

Even with a refund on the way, Robinson feels like she's still operating her business with the same uncertainty she did a year ago.

I have no way of knowing.

what my pricing should be for fall and Christmas 2026.

She's got to know soon.

About now is when most businesses have to decide how much to manufacture, buy, and import for the holidays.

I'm Kristen Schwab for Marketplace.

Virginia business owner Sarah Wells logged onto the portal before it was even supposed to be open.

I sort of took the early bird catches the worm approach.

She makes backpacks and accessories for new moms, and she applied for a refund of $20,000 for tariffs she paid on two shipments from China and Cambodia.

There were a lot of hours leading up to today and a lot of cumbersome parts of this, but today was actually pretty quick.

That prep process is still difficult for many businesses, especially smaller ones.

U.S.