CAPE Phase 3, scheduled by CBP for 6 October 2026, is open only to importers that have sued at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT). CBP told the court that plaintiffs that gave CBP a valid importer of record number by 30 July 2026 can file from 6 October, and that later plaintiffs will get separate instructions. Phases 1 and 2 remain open to every importer of record.
Who this is for: finance, tax and trade compliance leads at mid-market and enterprise fashion, beauty, food and consumer goods importers, including European brands that are importer of record for their U.S. shipments, who paid IEEPA duties and need to know which entries can be filed now.
The refunds follow the Supreme Court’s decision of 20 February 2026 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. CBP opened CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries) in the ACE Portal on 20 April 2026 to refund IEEPA duties, with interest, in batches rather than entry by entry.
How CAPE works
| Step | What happens | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Entry list | The importer or broker lists every entry with an IEEPA Chapter 99 line, for example from the ACE ES-003 report. | CAPE rejects entries with no IEEPA line or already on an accepted declaration. |
| 2. CAPE declaration | A CSV of 11-character entry numbers, up to 9,999 per declaration, is uploaded in the CAPE tab of the ACE Portal, not through ABI. ACE validates it and returns a claim number. | Only the importer of record, or the broker whose filer code matches the entries, can file. A filed declaration cannot be amended or cancelled. |
| 3. Liquidation | ACE removes the IEEPA lines and duties, and CBP liquidates or reliquidates the entry. | CBP nets every over- and underpayment on the entry and offsets unpaid CBP debts, so an entry can end in a bill. |
| 4. Refund | Refunds, with interest, are grouped by importer of record or Form 4811 notify party and liquidation date, and paid by ACH. | CBP holds any refund until ACH refund details are on file. |
CAPE phases and dates
| Phase | Open from | Entries covered | Who can file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 20 April 2026 | Unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days | Importer of record or the broker that filed the entries. CBP says no court case is needed. |
| Phase 2 | 29 June 2026 | Entries flagged for reconciliation (types 01, 02, 06) with no type 09 reconciliation entry filed, within the same 80 days | Same as Phase 1 |
| Phase 3 | 6 October 2026, per CBP’s declaration to the CIT | Entries liquidated more than 80 days ago that a CIT order directs CBP to reliquidate | CIT plaintiffs only, starting with those whose importer of record number reached CBP by 30 July 2026 |
| Not yet in CAPE | No date announced | Entries with a reconciliation entry on file, on a drawback claim or open protest, AD/CVD entries awaiting Commerce instructions, entries not in ACE, and finally liquidated entries of importers that have not sued | CBP says it is evaluating these. |
Since 7 July 2026, CAPE has rejected warehouse entries (types 21 and 22); importers should file the warehouse withdrawals (types 31, 32, 34 and 38), which CBP refunds when the warehouse entry liquidates. On 2 October 2026, CBP’s IEEPA refunds page did not yet describe Phase 3, and we found no CSMS message with Phase 3 filing instructions.
Phase 3 eligibility and the litigation behind it
- Importers that sued: Judge Richard K. Eaton’s order dated 17 July 2026, entered in the CIT’s IEEPA refund cases since that day, directs CBP to reliquidate without IEEPA duties all of a plaintiff’s entries that have been liquidated for more than 80 days, after counsel sends CBP the importer of record number and CBP accepts the plaintiff’s CAPE declarations. The U.S. government told the Federal Circuit on 10 August 2026 that it has not appealed these orders and intends to comply.
- Importers that have not sued: Phase 3 is closed to them. The CIT’s universal refund injunctions of 17 April 2026, stayed as to immediate compliance, are on appeal (Federal Circuit No. 26-1895), and the government says they now matter only for these importers’ finally liquidated entries. The appellees’ brief is due 5 October 2026, and there was no ruling as of 2 October 2026.
- Class action: A motion to certify a class of importers in Freestyle World, Inc. v. CBP (CIT No. 26-01088) was argued on 19 August 2026 and was undecided on the docket as of 2 October 2026.
CBP delayed Phase 3 in August 2026 to add validations that block any duty change other than the IEEPA refund on finally liquidated entries, and its next status report to the CIT is due 6 October 2026. CBP gives no legal guidance on whether other entries need a court case, so importers that have not sued should take trade counsel’s advice now.
What to have in place before filing
- ACE Portal access. The filer needs a verified ACE Portal account, and the importer needs an Importer sub-account to enter refund bank details and run refund reports.
- ACH refund enrollment. Refund bank details, entered in the ACH Refund Authorization tab, are separate from the ACH details used to pay CBP. CBP has paid refunds electronically, with limited exceptions, since 6 February 2026 and holds any refund until refund details are on file.
- CBP Form 4811, if refunds should go to another party. CBP pays a notify party designated on Form 4811 or in the ACE Portal only when the designation covers refunds and the notify party is listed on the entry summary, and that party needs its own ACH refund enrollment.
- Clean entries. Fix classification, value, origin or other non-IEEPA errors with a post-summary correction before filing, because a filed declaration cannot be changed.
The CIT noted on 17 September 2026 that a customs broker with a valid power of attorney may be able to help importers that cannot access ACE to provide ACH details.
Use the IEEPA refund claim readiness checklist to sort entries by CAPE phase and confirm ACE access, ACH refund enrollment, Form 4811 routing, and post-summary correction and protest timing before filing.
Interest, timing and tracking
CBP includes interest under 19 U.S.C. 1505, generally from the date the duty was deposited to the date of liquidation or reliquidation, in the same ACH deposit as the duty refund. CBP says valid refunds are generally issued 60 to 90 days after a CAPE declaration is accepted, unless a compliance concern needs more review, and most reach the bank account 3 to 5 weeks after the entry liquidates or reliquidates. Suspended, extended and under-review entries are refunded when they liquidate.
Acceptance is not payment: CBP sets each refund at liquidation and batches refunds by importer of record and liquidation date. CBP does not email status updates; the ACE reports ES-022 (principal and interest by entry), REV-603 (refund status), REV-613 (ACH rejections) and REV-615 (CAPE refund detail) show progress.
Illustrative example: an EU-origin entry
CBP’s own refund example covers goods from the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland/Liechtenstein, whose framework agreements set a combined 15% rate that included the general duty. For an illustrative $200,000 entry at CBP’s example general rate of 5%, not the rate for any specific product:
- Duty paid at the combined 15%: $200,000 × 15% = $30,000.
- General duty that stays: $200,000 × 5% = $10,000.
- IEEPA duty that CAPE removes: $30,000 minus $10,000 = $20,000, plus interest.
CBP nets any underpaid Section 232 or 301 duties against that refund. Additional duties in force on each entry date must be confirmed by a licensed customs broker.
Protests and post-summary corrections
A post-summary correction (PSC) can be filed only within 300 days of entry and at least 15 days before scheduled liquidation, whichever comes first; after liquidation, only a protest or prior disclosure can correct an entry. CBP wants non-IEEPA PSCs filed before the CAPE declaration and prohibits using a PSC to request an IEEPA refund.
CAPE rejects entries on an open or suspended protest. Once an entry is on a CAPE declaration, CBP accepts no PSC for it, and a protest on non-IEEPA issues or on the refund amount must wait until the entry liquidates or reliquidates and the refund is issued. The protest deadline is 180 days after that liquidation or reliquidation.
Latest CAPE status figures
CBP’s latest sworn report to the CIT, filed on 15 September 2026, gives these figures as of 11 September 2026:
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| CAPE declarations submitted | 286,044 |
| Declarations that passed file validation | 201,293 |
| Entries on those declarations | 27.2 million |
| Entries liquidated or reliquidated without IEEPA duties | 19.94 million |
| Potential and certified refunds accepted for processing | About $134.7 billion |
| Refunds (duties plus interest) certified and sent to the Treasury for payment | About $122 billion |
| Refunds held because no ACH details were provided | 20,184 refunds, about $1.3 billion |
Questions, answered directly.
How do IEEPA tariff refunds work in 2026?
The importer of record, or the licensed customs broker that filed its entries, uploads a CAPE declaration, a CSV list of entry numbers, in the ACE Portal. CBP removes the IEEPA duties when it liquidates or reliquidates each accepted entry and issues any refund due, with interest, by ACH.
Who is eligible for CAPE Phase 3 on 6 October 2026?
CAPE Phase 3 is open only to importers that have sued at the Court of International Trade and are covered by its July 2026 reliquidation order, for entries liquidated more than 80 days ago. CBP says plaintiffs whose importer of record numbers reached CBP by 30 July 2026 can file from 6 October 2026, and later plaintiffs will get separate instructions.
Do importers need to sue to get IEEPA refunds?
Importers do not need to sue for Phases 1 and 2, which cover unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the last 80 days; CBP says no court case is needed for those. For older liquidated entries only plaintiffs can use Phase 3, and the appeal over universal refund injunctions that would cover other importers was pending at the Federal Circuit on 2 October 2026.
Do IEEPA refunds include interest?
Yes. CBP includes interest under 19 U.S.C. 1505, generally from the date the duty was deposited to the date of liquidation or reliquidation, in the same ACH payment as the duty refund.
How long do IEEPA refunds take?
CBP says valid IEEPA refunds are generally issued 60 to 90 days after a CAPE declaration is accepted, unless a compliance concern needs more review, and most reach the bank account 3 to 5 weeks after the entry liquidates or reliquidates.
What must an importer set up before filing a CAPE declaration?
The importer needs an ACE Portal account with an Importer sub-account and ACH refund bank details in ACE, because CBP holds refunds until those details are on file. If refunds should go to another party, that party must be designated on CBP Form 4811 or in the ACE Portal, listed on the entry summaries and enrolled for ACH refunds.
Can a CAPE declaration be corrected after it is filed?
No. CBP says a filed CAPE declaration cannot be amended or cancelled and entries cannot be removed, so non-IEEPA errors should be fixed with a post-summary correction before filing; entries left off can go on a new declaration.
Need your IEEPA entries sorted before you file?
Greenwich Mercantile works from your ACE reports and entry exports to sort each IEEPA entry by CAPE phase, check ACE, ACH refund and Form 4811 setup, and flag entries that need a correction before a declaration is filed.
CAPE declarations are filed by the importer of record or its licensed customs broker in ACE. A licensed U.S. customs broker reviews and files every entry under your power of attorney: one of our partner brokers, or your existing broker working from the same record. Greenwich does the customs work behind each entry with AI. See how Greenwich works.
- IEEPA entry inventory by CAPE phase and liquidation date
- ACE, ACH refund and Form 4811 readiness check
- CAPE filing coordination with the filer, and refund-status tracking
Related guides
- Duty Drawback Explained
- IEEPA Tariff Refund Claim Readiness Checklist
- Liquidation: Definition
- Duty Drawback Services
- Section 122 Tariff Expiration: Importer Checklist
Sources and limits
- CBP: IEEPA Duty Refunds (last modified 30 September 2026): CAPE filing rules, Phases 1 and 2, interest, timing, ACH, Form 4811, PSC and protest answers.
- CBP: CAPE Trade User Information Notice (last updated 10 July 2026): entries not yet accepted, refund recipients, ACE reports and the PSC prohibition.
- CBP CSMS messages #69066837 (29 June 2026, Phase 2 deployed), #69127837 (2 July 2026, warehouse entries) and #69056483 (25 June 2026, validations that need a PSC).
- CBP: Post Summary Corrections, CBP Form 4811, the Electronic Refunds interim final rule, 91 FR 21, and 19 CFR 174.12 (protest deadlines).
- Declarations of Brandon Lord, CBP, in Freestyle World, Inc. v. CBP, CIT No. 26-01088: 15 September 2026, ECF 50 (Phase 3 date and eligibility, status figures) and 25 August 2026, ECF 38 (Phase 3 validations); CIT order of 17 September 2026, ECF 52; docket.
- CIT orders: 17 July 2026 reliquidation order, In re Tariffs Collected in Reliance on IEEPA (as entered in CIT No. 25-00255, ECF 51), and 15 July 2026 order in CIT No. 25-00595, ECF 46.
- V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, Federal Circuit No. 26-1895: U.S. opening brief of 10 August 2026 and docket (response brief due 5 October 2026).
Court filings link to CourtListener’s RECAP copies because the CIT and Federal Circuit dockets require a PACER login.
Not covered here: de minimis claims, drawback recalculation, AD/CVD liquidation, and whether a particular importer should sue. The guide is operational guidance, not legal advice, and CBP sets each refund amount at liquidation.
Last reviewed: 2 October 2026.