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CSMS # 68315804 – Introduction – Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) for IEEPA Refunds, April 20, 2026 Deployment

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On April 20, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will launch the first phase of the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) tool in the Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal). CAPE will simplify International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duty refund requests made pursuant to court order and in accordance with appropriate statutory authority by providing an electronic pathway to submit valid IEEPA duty refund claims.

CAPE is designed to consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis. CBP plans to implement CAPE through a phased development approach, adding more functionality in subsequent phases for more complicated scenarios. CAPE Phase 1 is limited to certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation.

Requesting refunds of IEEPA duties requires only the following summarized actions:

• Importers of Record (IORs) and authorized Customs brokers have an established ACE Secure Data Portal account (ACE Portal account)
• Refund recipients use the ACE Portal account to provide CBP with bank account information for refunds
• IORs and authorized Customs brokers submit CAPE Declarations in the ACE Portal

The CAPE process starts with the filing of the CAPE Declaration in the ACE Portal by the IOR or the authorized broker who filed entries on behalf of the IOR. Once accepted, CBP will remove the IEEPA Harmonized Tariff Schedule number and recalculate the duties due without IEEPA, updating the entry to a new version. CBP will review the updated version of the entry and liquidate or reliquidate. Refunds will be consolidated by

IOR or the party designated via CBP Form 4811 and liquidation date.

IORs and brokers who will be filing CAPE Declarations are encouraged to prepare for CAPE filing by ensuring that they have an ACE Portal account and that their bank account information for refunds has been added to their account. For additional information about ACE Portal access and ACH refunds visit the resources below: 

• One Page Overview: ACH Refund Enrollment
• Frequently Asked Questions: ACE Portal and ACH Refunds FAQs
• Training Video: Applying for an ACE Portal Importer Account and Enrolling in ACH Refunds
• Training Guide: ACE Portal Importer Account Application
• Training Guide: ACH Refund Enrollment in the ACE Portal
• Rejected ACH Refund Information: Replacement Refund Instructions

To learn more about CAPE functionality in ACE, please see the CAPE Information Notice. For more information on the CAPE filing process, please see the CAPE Refund Quick Reference Guide.

CBP will continue to issue messaging via the Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) to ensure the trade community is informed and prepared to utilize this new tool and as new enhancements are deployed.

Technical questions regarding this message should be directed to IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov. General questions regarding this message should be directed to traderelations@cbp.dhs.gov.

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Please find our newest Space and Equipment report, below.

Please note: regardless of the status showing on the report, please reach out to your BOC Representative to discuss existing status. Space availability changes daily, even multiple times per day. This report is just a general guideline. We will always do everything we can to help you move your freight.

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Please find our newest Space and Equipment report, below.

Please note: regardless of the status showing on the report, please reach out to your BOC Representative to discuss existing status. Space availability changes daily, even multiple times per day. This report is just a general guideline. We will always do everything we can to help you move your freight.

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CIT Expands Paused IEEPA Tariff Refund Order to Include Finally Liquidated Entries

March 30, 2026 by Jacob Kopnick|Top News
Excerpted from TradelawDaily.com

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Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton on March 27 broadened his prior order requiring CBP to begin paying refunds of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to include finally liquidated entries. The judge’s initial order only covered non-finally liquidated entries but now states that “[a]ny liquidated entries for which liquidation is final shall be reliquidated without regard to the IEEPA duties.”

However, the judge continued his suspension of the order “to the extent that it requires immediate compliance.”

Eaton amended the order after importers led by AGS Company Automotive Solutions, a key player in the fight for refunds, asked the court to lift the stay in its case to address potential issues stemming from Eaton’s most recent order regarding IEEPA tariff refunds.

Concurrent with his decision to amend his refund order, Eaton then denied AGS’ motion to lift the stay of its case (AGS Company Automotive Solutions v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CIT # 25-00255).

In a previous decision in AGS’ case, Judges Gary Katzmann, Timothy Reif and Jane Restani denied the importer’s motion to suspend liquidation of its entries saddled with IEEPA tariffs, since the trade court could order reliquidation of finally liquidated entries in the company’s Section 1581(i) case (see 2512150029).

In their decision, which was issued prior to the Supreme Court finding the IEEPA tariffs to be unlawful, the three judges noted that filing a protest would be futile, since CBP has no role in adjudicating the underlying legality of the IEEPA tariffs. However, in a March 20 order, Eaton said no resolution was reached with the government on how to provide relief for finally liquidated entries.

The judge then said “importers should be aware of the remedies available under 19 U.S.C. § 1514 (Protest against decisions of Customs Service).”

In the wake of this language being published, AGS filed an emergency motion to lift the stay of its case “to be heard on this issue and obtain confirmation” they aren’t required to protest entries CBP liquidates to get IEEPA refunds and, “indeed, that doing so would be futile.”

AGS argued that good cause exists to lift the stay, since the court “has issued seemingly incompatible orders with respect to whether protests are necessary — or even available — to recover duties paid under the unlawful IEEPA tariff regime.” Eaton’s order suggesting importers can protest liquidations of entries with IEEPA duties is “in tension” with the three-judge panel’s order denying AGS’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the brief said.

Importers have relied on the AGS decision, and, in fact, many protest windows have closed. “Without an opportunity to clarify the Atmus Court’s order, Consolidated Plaintiffs risk seeing slip away the paramount legal rights they thought were preserved, to wit, the lack of need to file protests because doing so would be futile, and because of CBP’s promise to issue refunds on liquidated entries,” the brief said.

AGS argued that “[p]otential chaos, steep cost, and inefficiency lie ahead.” If importers start filing protests in response to the court’s order, it’s “more than likely (because they are futile) that CBP will deny those protests,” leading to thousands of new cases at CIT but under Section 1581(a). The court should seek to avoid this outcome, since it’s futile and also “contrary to the very judicial economy and expeditious resolution of refunds this Court has espoused in Atmus,” the brief said.

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Please find our newest Space and Equipment report, below.

Please note: regardless of the status showing on the report, please reach out to your BOC Representative to discuss existing status. Space availability changes daily, even multiple times per day. This report is just a general guideline. We will always do everything we can to help you move your freight.

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Please find our newest Space and Equipment report, below.

Please note: regardless of the status showing on the report, please reach out to your BOC Representative to discuss existing status. Space availability changes daily, even multiple times per day. This report is just a general guideline. We will always do everything we can to help you move your freight.

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Executive Director of US Customs and Border Protection Lays Out CBP’s New System for IEEPA Refunds (CAPE)

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CBP is developing a new capability within its system of record for imported merchandise — the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) — to prepare to calculate and provide

valid refunds of additional ad valorem duties imposed under IEEPA.

This new ACE functionality is called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE). CBP is designing CAPE with four integrated components:

• Claim Portal,
• Mass Processing,
• Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation
• Refund

These components reflect both how CBP anticipates refund requests will proceed through CAPE and how CBP is structuring its development efforts. Each of these components, along with an update on its development, is discussed below.

The CAPE Claim Portal will be web-based and serve as the entry point for importers and brokers to submit IEEPA refund requests (“CAPE Declaration”) to CBP. Once operational, a new tab will be available in both importer and broker ACE Portal accounts.

CBP estimates that the ACE upgrades are already 70% completed.

See full Declaration here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cit.19346/gov.uscourts.cit.19346.39.0_1.pdf

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