Owners who paid tariffs on horses imported to the United States in 2025 could be eligible for a refund of those payments following a Feb. 20 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States.
That 6-3 ruling found that President Donald Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Customs and Border Protection has set up a process for affected businesses to request refunds of those tariffs, which Forbes reports totaled $166 billion in tariffs with Brazil, Canada, China, European Union countries, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
The U.S. International Trade Commission's ITC Dataweb reports tariff collection on all horses increasing from $0 in 2024 to $28.5 million in 2025.
Equine businesses involved in overseas transactions note that these tariffs most assuredly impacted horse owners and believe many of them will be eligible for refunds. One of those companies helping affected owners is Horseflight, which mostly serves sport horses but also has Thoroughbred clients.
Natasha Klingenstein, business operations manager for Horseflight, said the Florida- and New Jersey-based company specializing in international and domestic horse shipping is working with its customs broker Reliance Customs Brokerage in an effort to secure refunds for clients.
"We are in the process of getting refunds for all of our clients who have flown under those tariffs," Klingenstein said. "All of our horses, our entries at this point, have been submitted through that system for refunds."
Reliance Customs Brokerage, as the importer of record for Horseflight's horses, is submitting requests through the CBP's Automated Commercial Environment system, which is where refund requests are placed. The process is being launched in phases and first started April 20.
Klingenstein said there are quite a few questions out there about how the ACE portal will work. For instance, will all refunds be paid at the same time or will tariffs collected when they first went online in April 2025 be refunded first, followed by more recent dates?
Emily Stearns, health, welfare, and regulatory affairs liaison for the American Horse Council, encourages owners to contact their customs broker if they believe they might be eligible for tariff refunds.
"You can't get what you don't ask for," Stearns said. "We would encourage them to contact the broker they used and see what happens. A lot of this will fall under 'wait and see.'"
Stearns noted that horse owners may also have been affected by tariffs on horseshoes, tools, hay, straw, bedding, equipment, etc. She mentioned that, unfortunately, seeking refunds for those types of items may only be worthwhile for larger operations.
The AHC currently has an intern researcher looking into the impact of the tariffs on the equine industry and she is scheduled to present at the AHC Conference and National Issues Forum June 21-24 in Washington.
It should be noted that the Supreme Court ruling only applies to tariffs issued under the IEEPA, and not other duties levied through the Trade Act or Trade Expansion Act. Businesses or individuals that were importers of record on goods that had IEEPA tariffs, meaning they were the purchasers who paid the fees to bring them into the U.S. and meet the Phase 1 criteria, are eligible to apply for a refund.
If a horse owner used a customs broker to manage the processing of importing and paying tariffs, the broker can apply for the refund on the owner's behalf.
Beginning April 9, 2025, sales horses sent to the U.S. from a European Union country, such as Ireland or France, saw new tariffs of 20%. Horses being imported from the United Kingdom, which broke away from the EU, were subject only to the 10% tariff. While significant trade that has existed with Japan and South Korea has largely been one-sided with the bulk of American horses being sent overseas, the new tariffs provided even less incentive for horses, particularly those bred in Japan, to be sold in the U.S. After April 9, 2025, the tariff for horses bred in Japan and sold in the U.S. was 24%. The tariff for horses bred in South Korea became 25%.
