The IEEPA refund CAPE filing process has become one of the largest customs recovery efforts in U.S. trade history. Importers and customs brokers must now manage eligibility, entry-level validation, ACH enrollment, refund accounting, and potential duty drawback conflicts across millions of affected entry summaries.
Understanding the CAPE Declaration and PRA Timeline
How the CAPE filing process works
The Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries system, commonly called CAPE, allows an importer of record or its authorized customs broker to identify entry summaries containing refundable International Emergency Economic Powers Act duties. The filer uploads a CSV worksheet through the ACE Portal rather than submitting a separate request for each entry.
One CAPE Declaration can include up to 9,999 entry summary numbers for the same importer of record. An importer with a larger population may file multiple declarations. Each accepted declaration generally consolidates the eligible IEEPA duties and applicable interest into a single refund, reducing the payment fragmentation that would otherwise result from entry-by-entry processing.
The program addresses IEEPA tariffs collected from February 3, 2025, through February 24, 2026. Approximately $166 billion was assessed across more than 53 million entry summaries during that period, making accurate automation and data controls essential. By September 11, 2026, CBP had accepted potential or certified refunds covering roughly 27 million entries, although validation failures and older liquidated entries remained significant areas of exposure.
November 4 comment deadline
CBP opened a 30-day Paperwork Reduction Act review on October 5, 2026, for the CAPE Declaration collection under OMB Control Number 1651-0149. Comments are due to the Office of Management and Budget by November 4, 2026, through Reginfo.gov’s “Currently under 30-day Review” process.
Importers and brokers may comment on estimated filing time, operational burden, data utility, worksheet clarity, and ways to reduce duplicate work. CBP estimates 495,000 initial responses requiring approximately one hour each, plus 33,000 replacement-file responses requiring about 30 minutes each. Submitting a PRA comment does not preserve refund rights or replace a CAPE Declaration, protest, court filing, or other required customs action.
Determining Who Can File and Which Entries Qualify
Importers, brokers, and ACE authorization
A CAPE Declaration may generally be filed by the importer of record or by a licensed customs broker acting for that importer. Both filing paths require an active ACE Portal account. When a broker submits the declaration, the importer must designate that broker as the “notify party” within the importer’s ACE account.
That designation deserves early attention. A valid power of attorney does not necessarily establish every ACE role needed for CAPE access. Brokers should confirm the importer number, ACE account structure, notify-party status, and refund banking information before preparing a large CSV population. These checks are particularly important for companies with multiple importer numbers, reorganizations, acquisitions, or inactive ACE credentials.
Entry status remains decisive
The Supreme Court held on February 20, 2026, that the affected IEEPA tariffs were unlawful, and the appellate mandate followed on March 2. Subsequent Court of International Trade proceedings directed CBP to remove IEEPA duties from qualifying unliquidated entries and reliquidate liquidated entries that were not yet final. CAPE was developed to administer that relief at scale.
CAPE eligibility nevertheless depends on entry status and the applicable processing phase. Phase 1 began April 20 for unliquidated and recently liquidated entries. Phase 2 began June 29 for certain reconciliation-flagged entries. Phase 3 began October 6 and expanded processing to finally liquidated entries more than 80 days past liquidation, but generally only for Court of International Trade plaintiffs that provided valid importer numbers by July 30. Later plaintiff submissions are expected to receive instructions on a rolling basis.
Non-plaintiff importers should not assume that every old, finally liquidated entry is currently eligible. Their available remedies may depend on liquidation finality, protest history, pending litigation, and future court instructions. De minimis entries involved in separate litigation also require distinct analysis rather than routine inclusion in a CAPE population.
Building a Defensible IEEPA Refund Workflow
Validate entry data before uploading
CAPE uses a CSV file containing entry summary numbers, but a simple file format does not make the process administratively simple. CBP screens each submission against its underlying entry data. Files that fail screening or validation are rejected and must generally be corrected and resubmitted.
A controlled workflow should include the following steps:
- Establish the complete universe of entries carrying IEEPA duties during the covered period.
- Match each entry to the correct importer of record number and ACE account.
- Segment entries by liquidation status, reconciliation status, litigation status, and CAPE phase.
- Remove duplicates and verify entry-number formatting before generating the CSV.
- Retain the submitted file, acceptance or rejection messages, correction history, and refund calculation.
- Reconcile the expected principal and interest against the ACH payment actually received.
These controls allow compliance teams to explain why an entry was included, excluded, rejected, or deferred. They also support financial reporting and reduce the risk of submitting the same entry through conflicting recovery channels.
Prepare for ACH-only refunds
IEEPA refunds are generally paid only through Automated Clearing House transactions under the Electronic Refunds framework. CBP holds payments when the filer lacks valid ACH information in ACE. Requests for a Treasury check are limited to applicable federal waiver criteria and must be directed in writing to CBP’s Revenue Division.
Importers should verify banking data, taxpayer and importer identifiers, account ownership, and internal remittance procedures before submission. A consolidated ACH credit may cover thousands of entries, so the accounting team needs the declaration-level detail required to allocate the payment accurately.
Separate IEEPA duties from other charges
CAPE refunds only the qualifying IEEPA component, generally with interest. Antidumping and countervailing duties, Section 232 duties, taxes, merchandise processing fees, and other charges on the same entry lines remain collected unless another legal basis supports adjustment.
Drawback claimants also need to identify entries whose IEEPA duties were designated in existing claims. A direct refund and a drawback recovery cannot generally duplicate the same duty amount. Brokers and claimants should review affected claims, liquidation status, amendments, and supporting calculations before treating the CAPE payment as fully resolved.
- CBP published a 30-day PRA notice on October 5, 2026 (91 FR 63299) to extend OMB Control Number 1651-0149 for the CAPE Declaration worksheet (CSV of entry summary numbers used to claim IEEPA refunds via ACE Portal); comments are due to OMB by November 4, 2026.* The notice restates CAPE mechanics, filing eligibility (IORs or authorized brokers), ACH refund enrollment requirements, and consolidation of refunds (including interest) into single payments.
- CAPE Phase 3 launched October 6, 2026, expanding refund processing to finally liquidated entries (more than 80 days post-liquidation) but only for CIT plaintiffs who submitted valid IOR numbers to CBP by July 30, 2026; later submitters will receive rolling instructions.* This follows Phase 1 (April 20, unliquidated/recently liquidated) and Phase 2 (June 29, certain reconciliation-flagged entries). Non-plaintiffs with older entries remain ineligible pending litigation outcomes.
- As of September 11, 2026, CBP had accepted approximately $134.7 billion in potential/certified IEEPA refunds (covering ~27 million entries from 286,000+ declarations), with about $122 billion (duties plus interest) certified and sent to Treasury for ACH disbursement.* Earlier figures showed ~$100 billion paid by late July; remaining claims include validation failures (~6 million entries) and finally liquidated amounts (~$11.4 billion).
- Industry and practitioner updates emphasize that Phase 3 does not cover non-litigating importers, with law firms advising verification of IOR numbers, ACE/ACH setup, protest sequencing, and potential CIT filings for remaining liquidated entries; refunds typically process in 60–90 days post-acceptance.* X discussions (primarily Oct 5–6) consist largely of law firm/consultant alerts and promotions rather than detailed practitioner debate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a CAPE Declaration?
A CAPE Declaration is the ACE Portal submission used to identify entry summaries for potential court-ordered IEEPA tariff refunds. The filer uploads a CSV worksheet containing entry summary numbers for one importer of record. Each declaration may contain up to 9,999 entries, and an importer may submit multiple declarations when necessary.
Who may submit an IEEPA refund CAPE filing?
The importer of record or its licensed customs broker may generally submit the filing. The filer needs an active ACE Portal account. A broker must also be designated as the importer’s notify party in ACE, even when the broker already holds a customs power of attorney.
Are all liquidated entries eligible for CAPE Phase 3?
No. Phase 3 generally applies to certain finally liquidated entries associated with Court of International Trade plaintiffs that timely supplied valid importer numbers. Non-plaintiff importers with older, finally liquidated entries may remain ineligible pending further litigation or instructions. Eligibility should be assessed entry by entry rather than inferred from the original duty date alone.
How are CAPE refunds paid?
Refunds are generally issued through ACH using the banking information maintained in ACE. CBP may hold a refund if no valid ACH account is available. A Treasury check is typically available only when the importer qualifies for an applicable waiver and submits the required written request.
Does CAPE refund every charge on an affected entry?
No. CAPE addresses the qualifying IEEPA duty amount and applicable interest. Other duties, taxes, and fees generally remain in place, including antidumping and countervailing duties and Section 232 duties. Importers should reconcile refund calculations at the duty-component level rather than expecting the full entry deposit to be returned.
Does filing a PRA comment protect an importer’s refund rights?
No. A comment submitted by November 4, 2026, addresses the government’s information collection and administrative burden. It does not constitute a CAPE Declaration, protest, refund claim, or court action. Importers should continue meeting all separate procedural deadlines that may apply to their entries.
How Stable Software Can Help
Control the duty drawback side of the recovery process
CAPE refunds can affect drawback claims when the same IEEPA duties were previously designated for recovery. Customs brokers therefore need a disciplined way to review drawback data, identify overlapping duty amounts, and maintain defensible claim records as direct refunds are processed.
DrawbackAI is flat-license duty drawback software that U.S. customs brokers can white-label for importer clients and use to file under their own filer code. Stable Software charges a flat software license and never takes a percentage of the importer’s refund. Brokers evaluating IEEPA-related drawback exposure can explore DrawbackAI as part of a broader process for managing claims while preserving control of client relationships, filings, and refund economics.
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