* New system for filing import refund claims goes live

Monday

* Many worry system could crash or encounter other

glitches

* Question remains whether consumers will see any part of

the tariff payback

By Timothy Aeppel, Nicholas P. Brown and Christoph Steitz

April 17 (Reuters) - Jay Foreman said he's "locked and

loaded" for the U.S. government's launch on Monday of a new

system to refund up to $166 billion in illegally collected

tariffs, but he and many other importers are realistic that much

could still go wrong.

"You have to be worried about what they could possibly do to

jam things up," said the CEO of toymaker Basic Fun, which sells

Tonka trucks, Care Bears and K'Nex construction toys.

The refund system is the latest twist in a drawn-out battle

over tariffs collected over the past year as part of President

Donald Trump's effort to restructure U.S. trade relations with

almost every nation on earth. The constantly shifting tariffs

roiled global business as companies rushed to shift supply

chains to avoid them as well as figure out who would ultimately

pay the taxes.

The U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down the tariffs

President Trump pursued under a law meant for use in national

emergencies, handing the Republican president a stinging defeat.

In a court filing on Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

said it had completed development of the initial phase of the

refund system, known as CAPE. The system will consolidate

refunds so importers will get one electronic payment, with

interest when applicable, rather than processing refunds on an

entry-by-entry basis. Critics of Trump's tariffs had pushed for

a streamlined process.

Customs officials said as of April 9, some 56,497 importers

had completed the steps necessary to receive electronic refunds,

an amount totaling $127 billion, or more than three-quarters of

the total eligible to be refunded. More than 330,000 importers

paid ​the tariffs at issue on 53 million shipments of imported

goods, according to court filings.

Matt Field, CFO of heavy truck maker Oshkosh, is one of

them. The Wisconsin-based manufacturer doesn't disclose how much

it paid in emergency tariffs, but Field said it's an "impactful"

amount. "I'm a CFO, so I do chase every dollar," he said.

Field said he's prepared to file for a refund as soon as the

customs portal opens but may wait for the "system to settle."

Multiple importers reached by Reuters said they are

concerned about the durability of the new filing system, at

least in the opening phase as thousands rush to upload their

claims.

"It's not like Taylor Swift tickets going on sale," said

Basic Fun CEO Foreman, who is seeking $7 million in refunds, but

with so many companies looking for a refund at the same time,

there's "no telling if it crashes the portal."

'THERE ARE WRINKLES'

There are plenty of potential logistics glitches. Jason

Cheung, CEO of Huntar Co., a U.S.-based toymaker with a factory

in China, said, "It'll be nice to get that money back," but

added, "it looks like the government is trying to make it

difficult."

Cheung noted that registration requires entering bank

account information even though the government already has it

for customs payments. And company names must be exact. "It took

me five tries before we could get registered due to minor

differences like 'company' versus 'co,'" Cheung said.

Still, he said, "we are very used to filling out forms" and

have "no concerns" about ultimately getting a successful refund.

That sentiment was echoed by Rick Woldenberg, CEO of

educational toy maker Learning Resources, one of the key

plaintiffs in the court case that led to the tariffs' undoing.

"There are wrinkles, of course, but I am pleased to see the

government do the right thing," said Woldenberg, whose company

is seeking more than $10 million.

Refunds can be claimed by any company that is the legal entity

that paid the taxes, so the issue reaches beyond U.S. borders.

German fan manufacturer ebm-papst told Reuters it was already

registered on the portal.

But as the system "is a new functionality created by U.S.

Customs, it remains to be seen how well the system will actually

handle the bulk processing of refund claims," a spokesperson for

the Mulfingen, Germany-based company said.

Companies prepping claims also said they worry about a

last-minute legal move by the Trump administration that could

also slow the process. Customs has until early May to appeal the

Court of International Trade's order requiring they create the

tariff refund portal.

Meanwhile, the refund process opens a different challenge

for many importers. "The real complexity here is how to deal

with my customers, assuming we get the tariffs back," said

Austin Ramirez, CEO of Husco International in Waukesha,

Wisconsin, a producer of hydraulic components used in automotive

and off-road equipment like bulldozers.

"The question is what we do with it, do we keep it, pass it

on to them?" It's a unique situation with each customer, he

noted.

Just who gets the refunds has become a political issue after

U.S. consumers endured a year of tariff-elevated prices. The

system is set up to refund the importer of record, not ultimate

end users who paid higher goods prices as a result.

At a congressional budget hearing on Thursday, U.S. Trade

Representative Jamieson Greer - a key architect of the tariffs

struck down by the high court and of the new import levies the

administration is scrambling to install in their place - was

asked if the administration had any plans for refunds for

households.

The attorneys general for the Democratic-led states who

filed one of the lawsuits decided by the Supreme Court "asked

for the money to go back to the companies," Greer said. "The

Democrat attorneys general asked for this and they're getting

what they asked for."