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Tariff Q&A with NAED Director of Government Relations, Bud DeFlaviis

William Attardi on April 28, 2026

tED magazine talks with NAED’s Director of Government Relations, Bud DeFlaviis, about why distributors usually do not have a direct claim to IEEPA tariff refunds, why unwinding tariff-driven price increases is so difficult, and how distributors can explain that reality to customers. tED Magazine: Bud, what is the biggest misunderstanding in the market right now about tariff refunds? Bud DeFlaviis: We hear a lot that since the IEEPA tariffs were struck down, everyone who absorbed higher prices will easily get money back. That’s not how this works. The Supreme Court’s February 20, 2026 ruling held that IEEPA did not authorize the broad reciprocal and drug-trafficking tariffs, and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) has launched its refund process using a tool called CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries). But that government refund process is built around the importer of record — the party that paid Customs — not every company farther down the supply chain that later paid higher prices.  tED Magazine: So who actually has the legal claim to a refund? Bud: In most cases, the importer of record does.  tED Magazine: Are the tariffs gone? Are they coming back? Bud: The IEEPA tariffs are gone. However, other tariffs imposed under the Trump administration remain in effect and the President has signaled that he wants to continue to find mechanisms to impose additional tariffs. Tariff Q&A With NAED Director of Government Relations, Bud DeFlaviis – tEDmag

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind – The last time human beings headed moonward was on the Apollo 17 flight that launched Dec. 7, 1972—before any of the Artemis II crew members were born. Today’s crew will not land on the moon—they won’t even orbit the moon. But they will whip around the lunar far side, on a shakedown mission test-flying the Orion spacecraft. This is essential preparatory work for achieving NASA’s bigger lunar goals. Next year there will be another test flight in low Earth orbit during the flight of Artemis III, followed by up to two moon landings by Artemis IV and V in 2028, and annual landings thereafter. Unlike the Apollo program, Artemis aims not just for the so-called flags-and-footprints model of short, one- to three-day stays on the moon, but for a long-term presence at a long-term moon base in the south lunar pole, where deposits of ice can provide drinkable water, breathable oxygen, and oxygen-hydrogen rocket fuel. Very much like the Apollo program, Artemis finds itself in a closely watched moon race, not with the old Soviet Union this time, but with China, which has announced its intention to have astronauts on the moon by 2030. The U.S. is not going it alone this time, however. While Apollo was an entirely American enterprise, Artemis flies under the flag of 60 countries, signatories to the Artemis Accords, an international pact whose members vow to support the peaceful exploration of space and contribute money, modules, and astronauts to the Artemis cause. Artemis II Has Launched. Here’s Everything You Need to Know