The 60-Second Overview

How We Got Here: From IEEPA Tariffs to Refunds

Understanding what CAPE is and why it exists requires understanding the legal history of the IEEPA tariffs themselves — because the scope of refund eligibility is a direct function of which executive orders the Supreme Court’s decision invalidated.

The key legal principle animating the refund process is the doctrine of illegal exaction. When the government collects money under a statute or executive action that is later held to be unlawful, longstanding precedent — reinforced by both the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court in this litigation — establishes that the government may not retain those funds. The question was never whether refunds would be required. The question was how, and through what mechanism. CAPE is the answer.

Are Your Entries Eligible for Phase 1?

Not every entry on which you paid IEEPA duties is eligible for Phase 1 refund. CBP built Phase 1 to handle the simpler cases first — entries that are still open at CBP or that were only recently liquidated — and deferred the more complicated entries to future phases (or, in some cases, to alternative remedies). Here is how to tell which category your entries fall into.

Checking HTSUS Codes in Your Entry Summaries

The fastest way to identify eligible entries is to review your entry summaries for the presence of IEEPA-specific Chapter 99 codes. Any entry with a code beginning 9903.01 (Trafficking/Fentanyl tariffs) or 9903.02 (Reciprocal tariffs framework) is potentially eligible. If you use a customs broker, they can pull this data from ACE directly and compile a preliminary list of entries for your CAPE Declaration.

The 80-Day Rule, Explained

CBP’s 80-day post-liquidation window for Phase 1 eligibility reflects the 90-day voluntary reliquidation period available under 19 USC 1501, minus a 10-day processing buffer. This window is measured from the actual liquidation date of each individual entry. If your entry liquidated on February 15, 2026, the 80-day window closes approximately May 6, 2026 — after which, unless CBP extends the window or launches Phase 2 to cover later-liquidated entries, the entry is no longer eligible for CAPE processing.

Which Tariffs Are Refundable (and Which Are Not)

The Supreme Court’s ruling invalidated a specific category of tariffs — those imposed under IEEPA. Other tariffs imposed under different statutory authorities are entirely unaffected and remain in full force. This distinction is the single most commonly misunderstood aspect of the refund question.

Refundable Under CAPE

NOT Refundable — These Tariffs Remain in Force

What to Do Before You File

CAPE is a strict process. A declaration with incorrect account setup, missing ACH refund information, or improperly formatted entry data will be rejected — sometimes silently — and the refund will be delayed. The steps below should be completed before you attempt to submit your first CAPE Declaration.

How to File Your CAPE Declaration: Step by Step

CBP has published a step-by-step reference guide for using CAPE within ACE; this section summarizes the operational flow. The actual filing is, by design, simple — the complexity is in the preparation.

What Happens After You File

Once your CAPE Declaration is submitted, there are several ACE reports you should use to monitor refund status and identify any entries that require further action.

Key ACE Reports for CAPE Refund Tracking

Common Post-Filing Issues

• Rejected individual entries within an otherwise-accepted declaration. The entry-level validation is separate from the declaration-level validation. Review the REV reports to identify which specific entries were rejected and why.
• Entries that remain suspended or under review. Not every validated entry will liquidate quickly. Entries that were previously suspended (for example, pending AD/CVD determinations or reconciliation flags) may remain suspended, with refunds issued only after liquidation.
• Refund held due to unpaid CBP debts. CBP is authorized under 19 CFR 159 to offset CAPE refunds against any “legally fixed and undisputed” debts the importer owes the United States, including outstanding penalty balances, liquidated damages, or other assessments. If your company has unresolved CBP debts, some or all of your refund may be applied against those balances rather than disbursed.
• Netting adjustments. CAPE refunds are subject to normal entry netting under 19 CFR 159.1, meaning the refund for a given entry is the net of all over- and under-payments as determined at liquidation. An entry with IEEPA duties owed but also with separate under-declared Section 301 duties, for example, will net to less than the pure IEEPA refund amount.

Refund Timing and Interest

CBP’s Published Timing Guidance

CBP’s public CAPE FAQ states that refunds will generally be issued within 60–90 days after acceptance of a CAPE Declaration, absent compliance concerns requiring further review. In its March 31, 2026 declaration to the Court of International Trade, CBP represented a 45-day internal target for simpler cases where no compliance issues arise. Both figures are best interpreted as planning horizons, not commitments — the actual timing on any given declaration will depend on volume, entry complexity, and individual CBP review.

Will Refunds Include Interest?

Yes. CAPE is designed to consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest on those duties. Interest accrues under 19 USC 1505(c) on duty overpayments from the date of deposit through the date of refund, at the rate established by the Internal Revenue Service under 26 USC 6621. For importers who paid substantial IEEPA duties in early 2025 and are receiving refunds in mid-2026, the interest component can be meaningful — on a $1 million IEEPA duty payment held for 12–15 months, interest alone could represent $50,000–$80,000 at prevailing rates.

Refund Recipient

Refunds are issued to the Importer of Record on the entry or, where the IOR filed CBP Form 4811 designating a notify party, to the designated notify party. There is no mechanism within CAPE for redirecting refunds to consignees, foreign suppliers, or any other commercial party that may have economically borne the tariff cost. Parties other than the IOR or Form 4811 notify party have no direct claim against CBP; any recovery of the economic benefit of the refund from those parties is a contractual matter between the IOR and its counterparties.

Complications That Delay or Block Refunds

Protests and Their Interaction with CAPE

Many importers filed protests under 19 USC 1514 in the weeks and months following entry liquidation, seeking refunds of IEEPA duties. After the Supreme Court ruling, CBP began suspending these protests pending development of CAPE. With CAPE now live, CBP has indicated that importers may withdraw pending IEEPA-related protests to allow CAPE processing, and that CAPE may result in faster refunds than continued protest proceedings. If a protest remains suspended and you want to use CAPE, contact the port of entry to request suspension removal and then withdraw the protest.

CIT Litigation and “Tag-Along” Cases

As of the CAPE launch, more than 1,000 “tag-along” cases had been filed in the Court of International Trade by importers seeking to preserve refund rights. The CIT’s Euro-Notions Florida v. United States (Court No. 25-595) is the lead case supervising CBP’s development of CAPE. For importers with CIT cases pending, CAPE is generally a faster and less expensive path to refund than continued litigation — but the availability of CAPE does not automatically moot pending CIT claims, and importers should consult with their CIT counsel about how CAPE affects their pending action.

Surety-Paid Duties

Entries where a surety paid the IEEPA duties (in whole or in part) are excluded from CAPE Phase 1. Surety-paid duty refunds follow a separate process that reflects the subrogation relationship between the IOR and the surety. Contact your surety to coordinate the refund path for any entries in this category.

AD/CVD Liquidation Instructions Pending

Entries subject to antidumping or countervailing duty orders where Commerce has issued liquidation instructions pending under 19 USC 1675 are excluded from Phase 1. These entries will be addressed in a later phase, or in the alternative, through the normal AD/CVD liquidation process after Commerce’s final determination.

Post Summary Corrections (PSCs) — Now Blocked for IEEPA

Prior to the CAPE launch, some importers filed PSCs under 19 CFR 181.34 attempting to obtain IEEPA refunds on unliquidated entries. CBP has now made clear that PSCs cannot be used to request IEEPA refunds — CAPE is the exclusive mechanism. PSCs for non-IEEPA issues (classification corrections, valuation adjustments, origin changes) remain available and should be filed before the CAPE Declaration for the same entries.

What’s Excluded from Phase 1 (and What Comes Next)

Phase 1 is deliberately narrow. CBP’s architecture for CAPE is explicitly phased: handle the easy cases first, then work through progressively more complex entry scenarios. The following categories are excluded from Phase 1 and will either be addressed in later phases or directed to alternative remedies.

Excluded from Phase 1, Likely in Future Phases

• Entries liquidated beyond the 80-day voluntary reliquidation window. These are the majority of entries from early 2025 and represent the largest volume of potential refund claims. CBP has not publicly confirmed when Phase 2 scope will be expanded to include these entries.
• Entries flagged for reconciliation (Type 09). Reconciliation creates timing complications with CAPE because the duty amounts are subject to change until reconciliation closes.
• Entries subject to drawback claims (Type 47). These are excluded because the drawback process already creates a separate refund pathway, and CBP needs to sequence CAPE with drawback to avoid double-refund issues.
• Entries with pending AD/CVD liquidation instructions. These will be addressed after Commerce completes its determinations.
• Warehouse and withdrawal entries. Refunds are deferred until liquidation.

What to Do About Excluded Entries Now

The most important step for excluded entries is preservation of rights and records. Specifically:

• Maintain complete entry summaries, duty payment records, and internal allocation records for every IEEPA-dutied entry.
• For entries that have liquidated beyond 80 days, assess whether filing a CIT case to preserve refund rights is appropriate. The statute of limitations on 28 USC 1581(i) residual jurisdiction claims runs two years from the first collection of IEEPA duties — approximately February 2027 for the earliest entries. A CIT case filed now preserves the right to refund if CAPE Phase 2 does not ultimately cover the entry.
• Monitor CBP CSMS messaging and the official CAPE webpage for Phase 2 announcements.

Section 122, Section 232, and the Tariffs That Stayed

The Section 122 Global Surcharge

Within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the administration invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 USC 2132) to impose a 10% global import surcharge effective February 24, 2026. This was the first-ever presidential invocation of Section 122. The surcharge is statutorily limited in two important ways: the rate cannot exceed 15%, and the duration cannot exceed 150 days (expiring approximately July 24, 2026) unless Congress affirmatively extends the measure by joint resolution.

Section 122 duties are not IEEPA duties and are not refundable through CAPE. Importers paying Section 122 surcharges on entries after February 24, 2026 have no CAPE refund path for those duties. If the Section 122 surcharge is later challenged and invalidated, a separate refund mechanism would need to be established.

Section 232 Tariffs — Untouched by the Ruling

The Supreme Court’s February 2026 ruling was specifically about IEEPA. Tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 USC 1862) — which authorizes tariffs for national security reasons following a Commerce Department investigation — are unaffected. This includes:

• 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum plus derivative products
• 25% Section 232 tariffs on passenger vehicles and auto parts
• 50% Section 232 tariffs on copper and copper derivatives
• Section 232 tariffs on timber, lumber, and wood products
• Section 232 tariffs on a defined subset of advanced semiconductors

None of these duties are refundable through CAPE. Importers seeking relief from Section 232 duties must pursue product-specific exclusion processes or challenge the underlying Section 232 proclamations directly.

Section 301 China Tariffs — Also Untouched

The Section 301 China tariffs — which predate the 2025 IEEPA actions and are based on USTR’s longstanding finding of unfair Chinese trade practices under 19 USC 2411 — remain in force. These are not refundable through CAPE. The USTR exclusion process and protest/refund mechanisms for Section 301 duties operate separately.

USTR Section 301 Investigations Now Underway

In response to the IEEPA ruling, the administration announced accelerated Section 301 investigations targeting multiple U.S. trading partners. If USTR ultimately makes formal findings of “unjustifiable” or “discriminatory” trade practices by a given country, new tariffs could be imposed under Section 301 — which would be legally durable in ways that IEEPA was not. Importers with significant exposure to affected countries should monitor USTR Federal Register notices and be prepared to participate in the public comment process.

When to Handle CAPE Yourself, and When to Get Help

For some importers, CAPE is a straightforward administrative filing that can be handled internally or by a customs broker. For others, the complexity, exposure, or strategic considerations justify engaging customs counsel. The honest calculus looks like this.

You Probably Don’t Need an Attorney If:

• Your IEEPA exposure is modest (say, under $50,000–$100,000 across all eligible entries).
• All your entries are clearly within Phase 1 eligibility (unliquidated or within 80 days of liquidation).
• You have a good customs broker who can identify eligible entries and file the CAPE Declaration on your behalf.
• You have no pending protests, no CIT litigation, and no AD/CVD or drawback complications on the same entries.
• Your ACE account setup is clean and your ACH refund enrollment is current.

You Should Consider Engaging Counsel If:

• Your IEEPA exposure is substantial ($250,000+) and the refund materially affects your financial position.
• You have entries that fall outside Phase 1 eligibility and need to assess whether to file CIT claims as insurance against Phase 2 delays or non-coverage.
• You have already filed protests on IEEPA duties and need guidance on whether to withdraw them for CAPE processing.
• You have entries with AD/CVD, drawback, reconciliation, or surety-paid complications that affect which entries can be filed and in what sequence.
• You have pending CIT litigation or have considered filing a CIT case, and need coordination between the administrative and judicial tracks.
• You face potential CBP offset of refunds against unpaid debts (unpaid penalties, liquidated damages, etc.) and need to resolve those prior claims.
• Your role is as a non-IOR party (consignee, foreign supplier, trading company) that economically bore the tariff cost and needs contractual recovery from the IOR who will receive the refund.
• You face compliance scrutiny on other issues (classification, valuation, origin) that might be triggered by the CBP review of your CAPE Declaration.

Frequently Asked Questions