Court Orders Customs to Refund IEEPA Duties to Importers

JD Supra Trade Law

Filed March 4th, 2026

Detected March 6th, 2026

Summary

The Court of International Trade has ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to refund International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duties to all importers. CBP must liquidate unliquidated entries and reliquidate final entries without these duties.

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What changed

The Court of International Trade, in an order dated March 4, 2026, has directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to refund duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to all importers of record. This directive requires CBP to finalize all unliquidated entries without IEEPA duties and to reliquidate any entries that are not yet final, also excluding these duties. This ruling applies broadly to all importers and does not require individual lawsuits.

Importers who have already had entries liquidated and are approaching the 180-day deadline to file a protest should consider filing one to preserve their right to a refund, especially if CBP has not yet issued further instructions on implementation. While the order mandates refunds, a specific compliance deadline for CBP's actions is not provided, but importers should act proactively to protect their refund claims. The implications are significant for any entity that paid IEEPA duties, potentially leading to substantial financial recovery.

What to do next

Review past entries for IEEPA duties paid.
If liquidation is not final and the 180-day protest deadline is approaching, file a protest to preserve refund rights.
Monitor CBP guidance for implementation procedures.

Source document (simplified)

March 5, 2026

Court of International Trade Orders IEEPA Refunds

Jennifer McCadney, Carrie L. Owens, Brooke Ringel Kelley Drye & Warren LLP + Follow Contact LinkedIn Facebook X Send Embed On March 4, Judge Eaton of the Court of International Trade ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to refund International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) duties to all importers of record. The Order can be found here.

Specifically, CBP must:

Liquidate (i.e., finalize) all entries that have not liquidated without IEEPA duties (i.e., with the IEEPA duties subtracted), and
Reliquidate (i.e., reopen for purposes of refunds) all liquidated entries that are not final (i.e., liquidation plus 180 days) without IEEPA duties. This applies to all importers. Importers do not need to file individual lawsuits.

The Court’s Order states: “ *ORDERED** that, with respect to any and all unliquidated entries that were entered subject to the IEEPA duties, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is hereby directed to liquidate those entries without regard to the IEEPA duties. Any liquidated entries for which liquidation is not final shall be reliquidated without regard to IEEPA duties.”*

CBP will have to implement this Order through a process. Until that time, if an importer has liquidated entries that are approaching the 180-day deadline to file a protest and CBP has not issued further instructions, we recommend filing a protest to preserve rights to obtain refunds. We are happy to advise on an individual basis.

Please stay tuned as we learn more.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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Kelley Drye & Warren LLP Contact + Follow Jennifer McCadney + Follow Carrie L. Owens + Follow Brooke Ringel + Follow more less

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Court of International Trade + Follow Customs and Border Protection + Follow Duties + Follow Economic Sanctions + Follow Executive Orders + Follow Importers + Follow Imports + Follow International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) + Follow Judicial Authority + Follow Liquidation + Follow Tariffs + Follow US Trade Policies + Follow Administrative Agency + Follow International Trade + Follow more less

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