DORAL, Fla. — One of the largest re-payment efforts in U.S. history is now underway as importers, including business owners in South Florida, begin applying to get their money back.

Ralph de la Rosa of Imperial Freight Brokers, based out of a Doral warehouse, has clients who include a range of importers who bring in things like aluminum, windows and doors and even work in the food industry.

Speaking to Local 10’s Christina Vazquez, he explained how his clients are eager to get a tariff refund.

“We have expanded this quite a bit because people are putting cargo here because of tariffs,” he said. “I have some clients that are getting tens of millions of dollars back and I have others than maybe had less but several are getting a good bit of money back.”

Those clients are filing claims through an online portal U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched on Monday.

This comes one year after President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs ― on a day he dubbed “Liberation Day” ― that, in February, the U.S. Supreme Court largely struck down as unconstitutional.

“Today, I think my clients would think it is their ‘Liberation Day’ because we were able to start filing, this morning, the process by which they can reclaim the hundreds of millions that was paid by the U.S. importer because, at the end of the day, the ones who pay this are the companies that are importing these goods,” said de la Rosa. “So today, I have gotten very happy emails from my clients.”

As for how those dollars could translate to the consumer, things get a bit trickier.

“Many times, they ate the tariff, so it is difficult to gauge how much they can possibly pass back to the ultimate consumer,” said de la Rosa. “It is not the easiest thing to track.”

A defiant Trump said he will press forward by other means, including imposing by executive order a 10% global tariff.

“The problem is nobody can predict the future, and we do know that this administration has shown that it does want to impose tariffs to the importing community, and so you are almost waiting to see what is going to happen next,” said de la Rosa.

Government officials have said refunds are expected in 60-to-90 days.

“Sixty-to-ninety days ― if there is no further court challenge, which will remain to be seen,” said de la Rosa. “Another variable. It is almost like being on a roller coaster ride. You don’t know if it is going to be nice or quiet or take an unexpected turn.

“I think people are just hoping that they can get some predictability because that is what business wants, predictability. Even if it is a tariff, if they know what it is going to be and it is going to be for a set amount of time, then they can adjust. What they don’t want is unpredictability.”

That is, if it survives a potential legal challenge, explained Lenny Feldman, Managing Partner of the customs - trade and tariff law firm of Sandler, Travis and Rosenberg.

“For now, it is a great start, a good day, but there might still be an appeal to this court case which might put an end to these tariff refunds,” he said.

Plus, when you consider legal challenges facing the other means by which the president said he would press forward with tariffs, Feldman said business owners need to prepare for the situation to remain fluid.

“You have to probably prepare for another storm, there are going to be various tariff tempests coming through,” he said. “Now we are settling up, cleaning up the pieces of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Now we have another one called Section 122 and that is already in court. We may have to do through this process again if the courts find those are unlawful, and then the bridge is to the next set of tariffs, Section 301, and we have to see if those are going to be able to take root or not, so it is going to be much of the same and I think tariffs are going to be in play pretty much at the same figures.”

Local 10 News also spoke with Richard Trent, the executive director for Main Street Alliance, a national advocacy network for small business owners.

“The worst thing that you can do to a small business owner, is make their day to day unpredictable and unstable,” he said. “Larger businesses have the benefit of navigating uncertainty with massive teams and the economies of scale. It’s just like a little kerfuffle for them.”

Trent said tariffs have driven up costs and disrupted supply chains for small businesses who found it especially difficult to absorb the new tax given their already slim margins.

“You can imagine for small business owners that had to pay essentially taxes illegally, there’s an urgency around getting their money back,” he said. “Some claims are still being reviewed by customs and aren’t actually subject to refund at this time, so there’s still a lot of spottiness that Main Street entrepreneurs are trying to navigate.”

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Christina Vazquez