---
type: Playbook
title: "Tariffs & Importing 2026: A Survival Guide for Retailers"
description: "How independent retailers should respond to 2026 tariffs and importing rules — IEEPA refunds, CAPE Portal, ACE basics, and what actually matters now."
resource: https://amyfaychandler.com/playbook/tariffs/
tags: [playbook]
---

# Tariffs & Importing for Independent Retailers: The 2026 Survival Guide

[← Back to The Independent Retailer Playbook](/playbook/)

Last updated April 11, 2026 — by AmyFay Chandler

I represent a dozen brands in Tennessee and Kentucky and two brands nationally. For the last fourteen months I’ve watched small businesses absorb the weight of tariffs they had no way to avoid.

The better news, finally, is that the Supreme Court ruled the IEEPA-based tariffs were imposed without proper authority, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection is opening a refund portal on April 20, 2026 to give the money back — with 6% interest accruing on every dollar, paid to the importers of record. It is not nothing, and for some small businesses it’s going to be the difference between making it to Christmas and not.

This guide is everything I have learned about the 2025-2026 tariff situation, what’s about to happen, and what independent retailers should be doing right now to take care of themselves. It is meant to be readable in one sitting, and to send you to the right next step depending on where you are in this story.

In a hurry? Take 90 seconds with the [Tariff Refund Eligibility Checker](https://tools.amyfaychandler.com/refund-checker) — it’ll tell you whether you qualify before you read another word.

## Why this guide exists

When the IEEPA tariffs were first announced in early 2025, the trade press covered them well and the small business press covered them hardly at all. The information that mattered most to a one-store gift shop in Knoxville or a three-store jewelry chain in Nashville was buried in 80-page CBP guidance documents written by people who already know what an HTSUS code is. By the time most independent retailers understood what was happening, they had already absorbed nine months of cost increases.

I am writing this guide because the same thing is about to happen on the way down. The CAPE refund portal opens April 20. The trade press is going to cover it well. The small business press is going to cover it hardly at all. And the small importers who could most use the money are going to be the last to find out it exists.

If you’re reading this, you’re not going to be the last to find out. Let me walk you through what’s actually happening and what to do about it.

## What the 2025-2026 tariff landscape actually looks like

Let me untangle the alphabet soup before we go any further. There are three main types of tariffs that have been in effect over the last 14 months, and they are not the same thing — the difference matters a lot for whether you can get a refund.

IEEPA tariffs — imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act starting in February 2025. These are the “reciprocal” tariffs (country-specific retaliation), the “fentanyl” or “trafficking” tariffs, and the “baseline” tariffs imposed under the same emergency declaration. The Supreme Court struck these down. They are the subject of the April 20 refund window.

Section 232 tariffs — imposed on steel, aluminum, and autos under a different statute, citing national security. These are still in effect. They are not part of the refund window.

Section 301 tariffs — imposed on China-specific imports under the Trade Act of 1974. These are still in effect. They are not part of the refund window. There are separate court challenges working through the system, but those are not at the refund stage yet.

Most independent retailers paid a mix of these throughout 2025 — IEEPA on European imports, Section 301 on anything from China, and standard MFN duty rates on top. Your CBP Form 7501s (the customs entry summaries CBP issued for every shipment) will show all of them as separate line items. Only the IEEPA-coded lines are eligible for the April 20 refund.

If you don’t know which tariffs you paid, your customs broker can tell you in twenty minutes. If you don’t have a customs broker, the [Tariff Refund Eligibility Checker](https://tools.amyfaychandler.com/refund-checker) will give you a rough answer in ninety seconds.

## Who actually pays tariffs (and who actually gets the refund)

This is the part that confuses the most retailers, so let me be specific.

A tariff is a tax paid to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by the importer of record — meaning the business whose name appears on the customs entry. If you signed a customs broker engagement letter, paid duties directly to CBP, and your business name is on the CBP Form 7501, you are the importer of record