Tariff refunds are available. This coffee roaster can’t claim them.

The shock of tariffs came as a surprise to Gabe Hagen, co-founder and CEO of Brick Road Community Corporation, a coffee shop and coffee roasting company in Tempe, Arizona. In 2024, Hagen and his husband were in the process of expanding their business to a second location with roasting facilities. Then, just as they were ready to open their doors in the summer of 2025, tariffs hit them.

“Our first inventory purchase for the roastery was so much higher than we had originally planned because we didn't plan for tariffs.”

Now, with tariff refunds available, Hagen finds himself facing a new ordeal: Though he pays for imported goods like green coffee, he isn’t the actual importer of record. As a result, Hagen can’t claim the tariffs he paid through the current government portal.

“That's been frustrating, because there's nothing that requires them to then pass it back down to me. So I'm still in this gray area of like, ‘Will I see any refunds back?’”

To hear more of Hagen’s story, click the play button above.

More on small businesses and tariff refunds

• From May 8: As tariff refunds are issued, businesses must decide whether they'll share with their customers

• From April 23: Businesses have started applying to get their share of $166 billion in tariff refunds

• From April 15: How small businesses are preparing for tariff refunds