Sectors
Foley & Lardner LLP attorneys Gregory Husisian, Kate Wegrzyn, and Lindsey Zirkle were featured in the International Trade Today for their insights at Foley’s 2026 International Trade & Supply Chain Webinar Blitz.
The article summarizes the key takeaways from a Foley webinar held September 2, 2026, examining the legal, commercial, and enforcement implications of recent developments in U.S. trade policy.
In the article, “IEEPA Tariff Refunds Create Complex Disputes Over Who Bears the Cost, Attorneys Say,” Husisian noted, “[A] refund check often starts the fight rather than ending it,” as competing claims arise among importers, distributors, and customers.
He explained that, because most contracts never anticipated tariff refunds, companies are facing “the unprecedented situation where there can be multiple people who feel they have a right to the refunds.”
Wegrzyn observed that companies are increasingly requiring importers of record to seek customs refunds and pass along a share of those refunds to buyers who previously absorbed tariff costs. In some cases, buyers are seeking refund provisions even when those costs were indirectly reflected in product pricing.
“Even in the ordinary course, tariff refunds can happen … so it’s not a bad provision to have going forward anyway,” she said.
In a second International Trade Today article, Zirkle discussed how “the enforcement environment has changed just as dramatically as the tariff rates themselves.”
In discussing these changes, Zirkle highlighted that the 90-day deadline for CBP to revise mitigation standards had passed with no new guidance issued. “Hopefully, any day now, we’ll get advice on the issues,” she said, referencing CBP’s forthcoming updates.
Zirkle advised, “Make prior disclosure now, while the current, much more favorable framework is in place. A timely prior disclosure is almost always the least expensive. The key is to find your own errors before CBP does.”
Their commentary also appeared in Trade Law Daily.
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