NASHVILLE — 7PSolutions was on the verge of closing this spring after federal tariffs cost the company over $1 million.
The only money that kept the GPS-supply company afloat came from two credit cards and a bank credit line, owner and founder Jeff Clark said.
But in early July, the company received a more than $65,000 refund for paying the double-digit tariffs the Trump administration imposed on nearly every country in April 2025. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the tariffs in February.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection in April launched an online portal for importers to file claims to receive refunds. In the last three months, the federal government has paid out around 60% of the refunds owed.
In Indiana, companies paid over $3.3 billion in tariffs — the 14th highest amount in the nation, according to We Pay the Tariffs, a grassroots coalition advocating against the import tax. Nationally, U.S. companies paid an estimated $166 billion.
The money Clark received will allow the seven-employee business to survive through the summer.
“I was ecstatic,” Clark said. “For a small company, even $1,000 can go a long way.”
‘Good for business’
Ameer Salama, co-owner of Fishers-based Indiana Import, said his company is applying for a refund, but has yet to hear if the claims have been approved. The business imports products for distributors to sell to gas stations and convenience stores around the Midwest.
Salama said in just the first few months after the tariffs were implemented, his business lost up to $200,000 and continued to lose money throughout last year. Receiving a refund would be a “big time” boost, he said.
“Every time you get money back, it’s good for business,” Salama said.
It’s unknown how many Indiana companies are filing to receive a refund. Federal agencies have not made individual business claims publicly available.
Krista Ricci, vice president of taxation and fiscal policy at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, said she hasn’t heard a consistent pattern from companies about tariff claims being approved or denied.
However, national companies with a presence in Indiana are reporting refunds on their most recent financial reports.
Stellantis, which operates three automotive plants in Kokomo, received a $400 million refund, while GM, with facilities in Fort Wayne and Marion, plans to receive $500 million. Amazon reported a $600 million refund and operates dozens of facilities in the state.
‘It's infuriating and scary’
But filing for a refund is proving difficult for some smaller businesses.
Only importers qualify to receive repayments. That means many businesses have to seek reimbursement through their importing firm, which is often a delivery company like FedEx, DHL and UPS.
If a business didn’t keep records of those imports, it won’t have the correct documentation to receive a refund, said Clark with 7PSolutions, who has worked for decades in the import industry.
He said his Nashville company is an importer on some items and kept detailed records. That made it easy to file $150,000 in claims. Even so, only around 45% of those claims have so far been approved, and it’s unknown whether the remaining ones will be accepted.
Clark has also struggled to get refunds through delivery companies, which don’t have dedicated staff to help smaller companies navigate the filing process. When those companies deny a claim, there’s no one to explain why or how to fix it, he said.
“Big companies aren’t having a problem,” Clark said. “Most large corporations have import compliance people. It's the smaller companies that really don't have anybody in house … that will struggle the most.”
But even as some refunds arrive, his company still faces an uncertain future due to other tariffs the Trump administration imposed, including a new round issued last month on more than 80 countries.
Twenty-five states filed a lawsuit Monday against the administration over those new tariffs. Indiana is not one of the states involved.
The higher prices that come from all the import taxes will continue to make it difficult for 7PSolutions to make a profit and stay open, Clark said.
“It's infuriating, and it's scary because, for me, everything rides on this business,” he said.
This article first appeared on FPI News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
