Recent developments in the litigation over tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) provide some clarity around the scope of potential refund relief available to importers.

On March 27, 2026, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued an amended order in Atmus Filtration Inc. v. United States modifying its earlier directive to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The court’s most recent order explicitly states that any liquidated entries for which liquidation is final shall be reliquidated without regard to the IEEPA tariffs. This language supplements the CIT’s prior directive that only unliquidated entries and entries that were liquidated but not yet final, shall be liquidated without regard to IEEPA tariffs.

In practical terms, a finalized liquidation is one where CBP has completed liquidation and the 180‑day statutory period to file a protest against the duties has closed. Because the earliest IEEPA tariffs date back to February 2025, a substantial portion of affected entries now fall into this finalized category. Historically, liquidated entries generally could be recovered only through litigation before the CIT, and were without any other form of administrative relief after the protest period. The amended order makes clear that finalized entries are not categorically excluded from the refund framework, representing a meaningful expansion of potential recovery for importers with older IEEPA‑affected entries.

While the court’s amendment settles the legal question of whether finalized entries may be included in the refund claim process, it does not prescribe the mechanics for claiming refunds on those entries or explain how CBP will administer relief across different entry types. However, the court is holding CBP to its representations made in multiple declarations filed in the Atmus Filtration case that they are moving quickly to develop the process.

Update on CBP’s Automated Tariff Refund System

In a March 31 sworn declaration in response to the court’s March 20 order, CBP provided a detailed status update on the development of the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system, and indicated that deployment remains on track for mid‑April. CBP also stated that CAPE is being designed to process refund claims for entries that have reached final liquidation, but the system’s functionality will be implemented in phases that will prioritize refund claims that present the least administrative burden.

Under CBP’s current design, Phase 1 of the mass processing stage is expected to cover a substantial — but not complete — portion of entries subject to IEEPA duties, with more complex categories and final liquidated entries addressed in subsequent phases of CAPE. As currently configured, according to the CBP’s status updates, Phase 1 is estimated to process approximately 63% of entries on which IEEPA duties were paid or deposited. Phase 1 will also accept CAPE Declarations containing entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days to meet the agency’s legal timeframe for voluntary reliquidation by CBP. Under 19 U.S.C. § 1501, CBP may voluntarily reliquidate entries within 90 days from the original liquidation date, a move that will streamline the refund process on those entries.

Phase 1 will not, however, accept declarations for certain categories of entries. These exclusions include entries flagged for reconciliation, such as Entry Type 09 that permits underlying entries to be consolidated in a single submission (Reconciliation Summary); entries designated on drawback claims; entries subject to an open protest; entries not filed in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) or lacking a liquidation status in ACE; and entries subject to antidumping or countervailing duties for which the Department of Commerce has already issued liquidation instructions and that remain pending liquidation.

CBP states that they are continuing to develop the review and liquidation/reliquidation component of CAPE and the refund component. While the completion of the Phase 1 processing component is nearing deployment, CBP cannot begin to issue refunds until the additional review and refund components are complete. Thus, there remains significant uncertainty regarding when importers may see any refunds of previously paid IEEPA duties, whether the entries are unliquidated or liquidated.

As the scope of potential refunds becomes clearer and CBP moves closer to opening the claims process, proactive preparation is increasingly important for importers with IEEPA exposure. Importers should ensure they:

• Maintain active access to the ACE Secure Data Portal.
   
• Coordinate with customs brokers to assemble complete records of potentially affected entries, focusing on those that are slated for Phase 1 of the CAPE process.
   
• Categorize those entries by status (unliquidated, liquidated but not final, and final) in order to prioritize preparation of CAPE Declarations to expedite validation and processing by CBP.
   
• Begin preparing consolidated datasets, such as CSV or Excel files, that can be readily submitted once CAPE becomes operational.

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