Expanded Scope of IEEPA Tariff Refunds
On March 27, 2026, CIT Judge Eaton made an important update correcting his initial order to CBP to issue refunds of IEEPA tariffs. Earlier in March, Judge Eaton’s had only directed CBP to issue IEEPA refunds for entries that had not yet liquidated or for which entries were not yet final. In Judge Eaton’s updated order, he also directs CBP to reliquidate all entries for which liquidation IS final and refund the IEEPA tariffs.
This is a welcome ruling from CIT. With this update, all entries, whether unliquidated, liquidated but not final, and with final liquidation should be eligible for an IEEPA tariff refund.
However, please note that the Trump administration has until May 4, 2026 to appeal the CIT decision forcing CBP to refund the IEEPA tariffs. If the Trump administration appeals the CIT decision, there may be many months more delay until CBP can process IEEPA refunds.
CBP Update on the CAPE System for Requesting IEEPA Refunds – March 30, 2026
CBP continues to make progress on the CAPE portal for claiming back IEEPA tariffs. As of March 30, 2026, the claim portal is 85% complete. The mass processing function is 60% complete. The goal remains to have the CAPE portal ready for Phase 1 implementation by late April.
CBP did provide more details about which entries will be covered in Phase 1:
- Entries that have not yet liquidated
- Entries that have liquidated but are within the 80 days of the liquidation date. CBP is essentially asking for 10 days to process these types of entries so that they meet the 90 day legal time frame for voluntary reliquidation
CBP indicated that they will work on CAPE functionality to refund IEEPA tariffs in future phases for the following types of entries:
- Entries for which liquidation is final
- Entries subject to reconciliation
- Entries designated on a drawback claim
- Entries covered by an open protest
- Entries not filed in ACE
- Entries subject to AD/CVD, for which DOC has issued liquidation instructions, that are pending liquidation in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 1504(d).
Importers are reminded once again to get their ACE Portal importer account set up. CBP will no longer issue refunds via check. They will only issue refunds electronically. Once importers have their ACE portal set up, they need to navigate to the ACH Refund Authorization tab (see pages 6-10) and input their banking information. Many importers are struggling with this process. It’s taking some importers weeks to resolve issues with the setup process. Importers need to get their ACE Portal account set up as soon as possible. Do not delay.
