All about the community of model railroading and rail enthusiasm
May 13, 2026
Long-awaited tariff relief appears to be on the way.
Rapido Trains, Inc., announced earlier this month that it will credit its customers who paid tariffs for the past year on the company’s model railroad products. The announcement came after it had received tentative approval of a 90 percent refund on tariffs paid since the White House ordered taxes on imported goods from several countries, including China, a large model train producer.
Earlier this spring, the U.S. government began processing refunds on tariffs levied over the past year.
In February the Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that President Donald Trump lacked the authority to order the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). More recently, a panel of federal judges ruled against Trump’s subsequent 10 percent global tariff.
Since the upper court’s ruling, importers have filed for reimbursement through the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) process. The Automated Commercial Environment platform launched earlier this spring to accept the first phase of refunds, limited to shipments that have been finalized or liquidated in the past 80 days.
“Now that U.S federal government refunds are being offered to companies, Rapido is pleased to announce that we will be offering tariff charge refunds to our customers,” Rapido said. “These refunds will come in the form of credit against current and future Rapido orders, and we will be offering this to all our distributors, retailers and direct customers who paid an IEEPA tariff surcharge on a Rapido invoice between February 2025 and February 2026.”
The company has tentatively been approved for a 90 percent refund. Rapido said customers likely will receive a sum equal to the tariffs charged.
“If the amount Rapido ultimately receives is lower, the credit will be lower by that same amount.” Rapido added that it can only give credit to its wholesale and retail customers.
“We will contact our customers directly when the process is finalized, which can take several months. We will also put an announcement in our newsletter that the credit process has started.”
Many U.S. businesses have applied for refunds on the estimated $166 billion collected for tariffs since early last year. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) estimated in court filings that 330,000 importers have been charged tariffs.
The refund process, first feared to take months or years, has moved quickly. CBP says refunds will be issued 60-90 days after approval. According to U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton’s recent order, 21 percent of filings have been approved.
Companies can file a refund request through their importer or customs broker. Only the importer of record may apply for the refund.
Rapido said it itemized tariffs on invoices rather than roll them into product prices to have a record of the duties each customer paid.
“Rapido’s customers have remained loyal to our company through this whole tariff business,” the company said. “In return, by crediting the refunds back to our customers, we are pleased to reciprocate that loyalty.”
Consumers hoping for a refund on items purchased through a third party or retailer will have to deal directly with them for a refund. That, according to NPR, could be difficult unless customers have a record of the surcharge per transaction.
Most retailers have included tariffs in prices of goods and cannot itemize the amount charged to specific customers. In some cases, consumers can seek relief from a shipper that collected the tariff. UPS, Fed-Ex and DHL say they will offer a tariff refund where they served as the importer of record. — TIM BLACKWELL
