On March 4, 2026, the United States Court of International Trade (CIT) began to answer the question that has been on every importer’s mind since the Supreme Court invalidated President Trump’s Executive Orders issuing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA): What about refunds?
In a three-page order in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, one of the many thousands of cases filed recently seeking refunds of the nullified tariffs, Judge Richard K. Eaton gave importers the first answers, ordering United States Customs and Border Protection (Customs) to do the following:
- For “any and all” unliquidated entries (entries for which tariffs and duties have not been finally computed by Customs), Customs must now liquidate (process) those entries without charging the importer for the IEEPA tariffs; and
- For any previously liquidated entries “for which liquidation is not final,” Customs must reliquidate these entries without the IEEPA tariffs. Presumably this applies to entries that have been liquidated but for which the 180-day deadline to file a protest has not yet passed.
This order applies to all such entries, regardless of whether the importer of record had filed an action in the CIT. Judge Eaton reasoned that he alone had been appointed to hear the tariff refund cases by the Chief Judge of the CIT, and there was no danger of a contrary ruling in the remaining cases within the CIT.
Judge Eaton further discussed in issuing this order, and his order confirms, that he believes that Customs has orderly processes in place that can be used to correctly account for refunds without a resulting “mess” that Justice Kavanaugh predicted in his dissenting opinion in Learning Resources. Judge Eaton further signaled that the flood of litigation was more likely to lead to the anticipated chaos than allowing Customs to engage its prescribed procedures.
While this news was welcome to many—especially those importers who have taken a patient approach and waited to file suit pending additional guidance—the brief order leaves questions in its wake that will need to be clarified and answered moving forward, especially:
- Will finally liquidated entries (those for which the protest period has expired) be eligible for refunds, and, if so, what will the procedure be? Importers reviewing their entries from early 2025 are finding that a number of them were liquidated in less than a quarter of the standard time for liquidation, with protest deadlines expiring long before Learning Resources reached the Supreme Court. Judge Eaton’s order does not address these entries.
- Will Customs start applying this order immediately? The answer to this is probably not, as the government is expected to ask for a stay of this order to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. That appellate court has already overturned an order in a related case as an impermissible universal injunction, and this order may suffer the same fate.
The CIT will hold a non-public hearing on March 6 to discuss additional proceedings, including possible initial proposals regarding finally liquidated entries and refunds for those who do not have pending court cases at the CIT.
So what should importers do right now? We continue to advise that the same measures be taken as prior to this Order, and especially:
- Know your deadlines: Inventory your entries to ensure you know entry dates, liquidation dates, and protest deadlines for all entries on which IEEPA-related tariffs were assessed;
- File protests: Until Customs implements the order, preserve your rights by filing protests within the 180-day time period following liquidation, if still open;
- Review agreements and terms and conditions: Importers may be contractually required to refund purchasers that paid higher prices to cover tariffs.
