Overview
- CAPE, which the agency says will open Monday, will begin accepting claims from importers for IEEPA tariff refunds in a phased rollout inside CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment.
- Refunds are not automatic and go to the importer of record that files a CAPE Declaration through an ACE Portal account, with approved payments sent by ACH in about 60 to 90 days for clean claims.
- The payout could reach roughly $166 billion to $175 billion across about 53 million entries and more than 330,000 importers, with phase-one covering a majority of deposits, from about 63% of recent or unliquidated duties to roughly 82% of entries eligible for electronic processing.
- Entries already “liquidated” — CBP’s term for finalized duty calculations — or under protest will need manual reliquidation and review, which trade lawyers and CBP say could stretch far longer than the electronic track.
- After the Supreme Court’s February 20 ruling that IEEPA did not authorize the tariffs and a March order from the trade court to halt collection and issue refunds, the White House has turned to other tools, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying tariffs could be restored by early July through Section 301 and a temporary 10% surcharge under Section 122 now facing a 24-state lawsuit.