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It’s hard to imagine what a system for refunding $166 billion in tariffs to 330,000 different importers might look like, but the picture seems to be coming into focus.
IEEPA Refunds: The Timeline
- On March 4, the Court of International Trade (CIT) entered an order in a tariff refund case[1] directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin the process for refunding all tariffs collected under IEEPA.[2]
- On March 6, the government filed the declaration of Brandon Lord, a high ranking CBP official. Lord stated that while CBP could not immediately refund the tariffs as the CIT’s order directed, CBP had begun working on a new system to process claims and pay refunds. Lord estimated that the system could be up and running within 45 days.
- Lord asked the CIT for more time to develop and implement the system. The CIT granted CBP’s request but directed Lord to submit a progress report by March 12.
Lord filed CBP’s first progress report today and it provides some new insights into how the refund process might work.
What Could the Refund Process Look Like?
CBP’s system of record for imported merchandise is called the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). The refund system will be added to ACE and it will be called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE).
As envisioned by CBP, CAPE will include four integrated components: Claim Portal, Mass Processing, Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation, and Refund.
- Claim Portal: CAPE’s Claim Portal will be a web-based system where importers and brokers can submit IEEPA refund requests – called “CAPE Declaration” – to CBP. Filers will need to upload a Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file containing a list of the entry summaries for which they are requesting IEEPA tariff refunds. ACE will then validate the CSV file itself, and the entries contained in it. CBP estimates that as of March 11, 2026, the Claim Portal component of CAPE is 70% complete.
- Mass Processing: CAPE’s Mass Processing component will check the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) number of each entry contained in the filer’s CAPE Declaration and separate the entries with IEEPA HTS numbers from non-IEEPA HTS numbers. Mass Processing will then calculate the importer’s duties owed as if the IEEPA duties had never been declared. Once this process is complete, the system will accept the CAPE Declaration. CBP estimates that as of March 11, 2026, the Mass Processing component of CAPE is 40% complete.
- Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation: CAPE’s Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation component will initiate the liquidation /reliquidation process for the entries identified in the filer’s CAPE Declaration. The system will automatically set a liquidation/reliquidation date for the entries based on the date the CAPE Declaration was accepted. CBP will use the time in between CAPE Declaration acceptance and liquidation/reliquidation to conduct any manual review of entries, as necessary. The Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation component will determine refund amounts and calculate interest. CBP estimates that as of March 11, 2026, the Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation component of CAPE is 40% complete.
- Refund: CAPE’s Refund component will refund the amounts due to importers that have filed a CAPE Declaration that CBP has accepted upon the liquidation or reliquidation date of the applicable entries. Notably, Lord’s declaration states that importers will be able to designate a third party to receive refunds on its behalf by completing a CBP Form 4811. This refund designation functionality could be critically important for tariff refund claim buyers because it may allow them to receive refunds directly with respect to claims they have purchased. CBP estimates that as of March 11, 2026, the Refund component of CAPE is 60% complete.
CBP expects there will be a “phased development” CAPE, meaning CBP will introduce basic functionality initially, with more advanced features coming later. Entries that are subject to antidumping or countervailing duties or entries for which the liquidation status in ACE is “Suspended,” “Extended,” or “Under Review” and certain other entry types may require these advanced features and so may not be eligible for processing initially.
The government may still pursue appeals of the CIT’s initial refund order or subsequent orders. Apart from such appeals, the courts might not accept CBP’s proposed refund arrangements. But CBP appears to be making real progress toward having the ability to process and pay refunds on a massive scale.
[1] The case is Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, No. 26-01259 (Ct. Int'l Trade filed Feb. 27, 2026).
[2] The CIT entered an amended order on March 5, 2026. The amended order limited the applicability of the original March 4 order directing CBP to issue refunds to IEEPA duties “imposed by the Executive Orders considered by the Supreme Court in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, 2026 WL 477534 (U.S. Feb. 20, 2026).”
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