Why the money goes where it goes
The refund follows the entry record because the entire refund process is built around it. CBP validates that a CAPE filer is the importer of record for the listed entries or the broker who filed them; it pays into the banking details on that ACE account. Nothing in that chain looks at who ultimately funded the duty commercially.
For a seller shipping DDP, the practical consequence is that the party with the legal standing to claim, and the party who actually paid the tariff economically, can be two different companies — and the process pays the first one.
What the question actually turns on
Whether a refund is owed onward is a matter of what was agreed and what can be evidenced. The relevant material is ordinary commercial record-keeping: the terms of sale and any pass-through or duty-adjustment clause; invoices showing how duty was quoted and charged; payment records; and correspondence at the time duties rose.
This is why no honest answer to "can I get it back" is a yes or a no. The facts differ per relationship, and the analysis is legal work.
What Ouli Refund does here, and what it does not
The China-Side Recovery module performs ownership triage — organising which entries are involved, what the documents show about who bore the duty, and what positions the paperwork supports — and prepares correspondence in English with Chinese working notes, plus settlement drafts.
It prepares material for you and your counsel to use. It does not negotiate, does not represent you, and does not promise an outcome. Any demand, settlement or claim is yours and your lawyer's to make.