CBP begins paying IEEPA tariff refunds for finally liquidated entries
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has started processing refunds for finally liquidated entries linked to the now‑defunct IEEPA tariffs after an Oct. 6 court filing confirmed eligibility. Only plaintiffs who submitted a valid importer of record number to CBP by July 30, 2026 can currently receive the refunds, while later filers must wait for further guidance.
As of Oct. 6, CBP had accepted 477 CAPE declarations covering 425,517 entries for processing. The agency said importers can apply for the refunds through the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) portal. The CAPE system is designed to handle roughly $11.4 billion, or 6.9% of the duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act that were later struck down by the Supreme Court. As of Oct. 2, CAPE had accepted about $136.6 billion in potential and certified refunds, with $126 billion already forwarded to the Treasury for disbursement. The Court of International Trade earlier this year ruled that CBP must refund unprocessed or unfinalized entries and later expanded the order to include finally liquidated entries, though the Justice Department appealed the decision.
“Organizations can apply for the refunds through CBP's Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries portal, or CAPE,” Brandon Lord, executive director of CBP’s Trade Programs Directorate said.
“Another important step in the CAPE process — and one importers involved in the tariff litigation will want to continue to monitor,” Kelly Nelson, principal consultant and managing director of KPMG Trade & Customs Services said.
The CAPE rollout began earlier this year to process refunds for IEEPA‑related duties after the Supreme Court invalidated them in February. CBP had aimed to launch the third phase for finally liquidated entries by end‑July but postponed it to October, and the Court of International Trade had ordered refunds for unprocessed entries before expanding the order to finally liquidated entrie
What we know
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun processing some finally liquidated entries from businesses that sued for refunds of now-defunct tariffs and were later ruled entitled to reimbursement by the Court of International Trade, according to an Oct. 6 court filing.
However, only plaintiffs who submitted a valid importer of record number to CBP by July 30, 2026, are currently able to receive refunds for finally liquidated entries.
As of Oct. 6, CBP has accepted 477 CAPE finally liquidated entry declarations for processing, covering 425,517 entries, per the filing.
The capability is expected to handle roughly $11.4 billion, or 6.9%, of IEEPA tariffs.
As of Oct. 2, CAPE has accepted roughly $136.6 billion in potential and certified refunds for processing, with $126 billion sent to the Treasury Department for disbursement, according to the latest filing.