Refunds route through distributors, leaving small retailers waiting
For nearly a year and a half, Marc Bowker has been absorbing the financial toll of President Trump’s tariffs at his comic book store in Lima, Ohio, without expectation of relief from a court-ordered refund process.
Bowker owns Alter Ego Comics, a shop where action figures — including foot-tall statues of characters like Wolverine and Spider-Man — drive about 70% of revenue. Most of those figures are made in China. Since the “Liberation Day” tariffs Trump unveiled at a White House ceremony, Bowker said, he has paid his supplier more than $16,000 in import taxes. At one point, Chinese goods were tariffed at 145%, though those rates have since fluctuated lower.
“It’s become a challenge to try and remain stoic and focus on the four walls of my shop when it seems like the world is on fire,” Bowker said.
In February, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to enact many of his tariffs was illegal. Although the administration quickly substituted other legal justifications to rebuild the tariff walls, the ruling triggered a government process to refund more than $160 billion in IEEPA-based tariff revenue.
Bowker, however, is doubtful he will see any of that money. His distributor, Sideshow Collectibles, is the company that directly paid U.S. Customs and Border Protection and would be first in line for any refund. Sideshow has told Bowker it has not received money back. The company did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.
“I’m not expecting anything,” Bowker said. “I don’t want to keep bugging this company. It’s a company that we’ve had a good relationship for over 20 years with.”
Bowker initially passed some tariff costs to customers as a 3% fee, then dropped the surcharge because it was costing him business. His action figure sales were down 50% last year, he said, which he attributed in part to tariff-driven price increases.
“Everything I sell is not necessary, you know? But it is an escape,” Bowker said. “But at the end of the day they have to have money in their bank account in order to pay for this stuff.”
The store faces another potential tariff threat: the escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada. Comics Bowker sells are primarily imported from Canada and are not currently included in the new round of tariffs, but that could change if the trade fight keeps widening.
“It unfortunately could be a major issue to an industry that has really been firing on almost all cylinders for the last couple of years,” Bowker said.
Despite the tariff pressures, Bowker said business is up this year, driven by what he described as a comic book renaissance built around titles like Absolute Batman. Some customers are still tightening budgets because of rising prices caused in part by tariffs.