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U.S. Customs and Border Protection Files Update on IEEPA Tariff Refunds

Alert

April 6, 2026

On March 31, 2026, Brandon Lord, Executive Director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Trade Policy and Programs Directorate, filed a declaration with the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) providing an update that the upgrades to the automated commercial environment (ACE) system are underway. In response, Senior Judge Richard K. Eaton continued his pause of his March 4, 2026 (last modified March 27, 2026) order for CBP to immediately begin the refund process.

Background

On March 4, 2026, the CIT decided in favor of the plaintiff in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, ordering CBP to immediately begin issuing refunds of the IEEPA tariffs to importers of record. On March 6, 2026, CBP filed a declaration requesting a 45-day extension for updates to the ACE system to prepare for the massive volume of refund submissions (over $166 billion of tariffs collected from over 330,000 importers of record).

The CIT has required CBP to provide regular status updates on the new ACE functionality named the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE).

CAPE has four integrated components:

Claim Portal
Mass Processing
Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation
Refund

March 31, 2026, CBP Update

CBP reported significant progress on the four individual components of the CAPE functionality: Claim Portal component (85% complete); Mass Processing component (60% complete); Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation component (80% complete); and Refund component (75% complete).

The CIT’s amended March 27, 2026, order (March 27 Order) added to the directive that CBP needed to reliquidate “[a]ny liquidated entries for which liquidation is final” without any IEEPA tariffs. As a result, CBP must adjust the development of CAPE to provide this additional functionality. CBP will process IEEPA refunds in stages, beginning with more recent entries:

Phase I

Phase I CAPE functionality will process:

Unliquidated entries; and
Entries within the 90-day voluntary reliquidation period.

CBP estimates Phase I functionality will be sufficient to process approximately 63% of entries for which a refund of the IEEPA tariffs is due. Additionally, Phase I CAPE functionality will also process entries with the special statutes of: “Suspended,” “Extended” or “Under Review.”

The Mass Processing component will remove the IEEPA tariffs and recalculate the duties owed. But it is important to note that CAPE will not liquidate these entries or issue refunds, and instead, these entries with special statuses will be liquidated in the ordinary course of business without the IEEPA tariffs.

CBP expects a 45-day window after a CAPE Declaration is filed to review and liquidate validated entry summaries contained in the CAPE Declaration. This timing assumes no issues with compliance or validation.

Subsequent Phases

The subsequent phases of CAPE functionality will address other, more complex scenarios, including:

Entries that have been liquidated and finalized with IEEPA duties, but refunds are required through CAPE pursuant to the March 27 Order; and
Entries for which a protest has been filed and is open.

CBP will continue to provide updates on the development and timing of those additional phases.

Recommendations

With the amended March 27 Order and CBP’s March 31 Update, those impacted by IEEPA tariffs who have consulted legal counsel regarding the filing of protests should contact counsel and revisit appropriate steps.

Whether the IEEPA tariffs were directly imposed on a company as the importer of record or a company bore such passed along costs from further up the supply chain, the general recommendations are to:

Quantify and document the IEEPA tariffs borne;
Understand the statuses of entries on which the IEEPA tariffs have been imposed (e.g., unliquidated, liquidated, suspended);
Know the available legal remedies available, whether that is the ability of an importer of record to file a CAPE Declaration or receive a refund, or a company’s legal agreement with an importer of record or broker; and
Talk with a trusted advisor with specialists to advise on the tax, accounting and financial statement implications of tariffs and expected refunds.

Your Guide Forward

Cherry Bekaert’s cross-functional teams of tax, accounting and assurance professionals continue to monitor developments related to IEEPA tariff refunds and the CAPE refund process. We are helping organizations assess potential impacts, evaluate available options and prepare for next steps as additional guidance is released. Please reach out to an advisor with any questions.

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