Overview
- CBP’s CAPE tool inside the ACE portal opened Monday at 8 a.m. for importers and authorized brokers to file refund claims for the unlawful IEEPA tariffs.
- Phase 1 covers entries that are unliquidated, meaning still under review, or were finalized within the past 80 days, with ACH enrollment required and payouts estimated in 60 to 90 days after validation.
- The effort spans about 330,000 importers and roughly $166 billion, while about 56,497 enrolled importers are positioned for around $127 billion in Phase 1 refunds, with some categories and about $2.9 billion in deposits needing manual handling.
- Refunds go to the importer of record rather than consumers, though class-action suits seek shopper paybacks and FedEx says it will return refunds to customers it directly billed for duties.
- Trade groups and companies warn of portal glitches and rejected files if data or formatting is wrong, as the court supervises CBP’s rollout and potential appeals could influence the pace.