April 3, 2026

72. April 1, 2026 | Amendment of CIT Order on IEEPA Tariff Refunds

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| TRADE ALERT – IMPORTS | |
| HEADLINE | Amendment of CIT Order on IEEPA Tariff Refunds |
| DATE | April 1, 2026 |
| AGENCY | Court of International Trade; U.S. Customs and Border Protection |
| EFFECTIVE DATE | March 27, 2026 |
| SUMMARY | The Court of International Trade (“CIT”) has further amended its March 4 Order to include reliquidation, without IEEPA duties, of entries for which liquidation has become final.

Separately, Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) stated that Phase 1 of the refund platform that it is developing, the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (“CAPE”) is designed to process entries that are unliquidated or for which the 90-day voluntary reliquidation period under 19 U.S.C. § 1501 has not expired. Phase 1 of the CAPE deployment will not include the reliquidation of finally liquidated entries. CBP “expects to develop” functionality to process entries for which liquidation is final as well as other complex scenarios (reconciliation, drawback, entries with multiple collection dates, non-ABI entries, etc.) in a subsequent phase of development.

While these developments suggest that protest may not be required to secure the refund of the IEEPA tariffs that have been paid, a number of issues remain outstanding. Accordingly, we continue to recommend that importers monitor entries for liquidation and that protests be filed before the expiration of the 180 day protest period to preserve the rights to recovery, until the CIT and CBP provide more clarity on both the law and process for the recovery of duties.

Action Items for Importers:
1. Establish importer ACE account and ACH refund payment capabilities with CBP.
2. Monitor entries for liquidation and protest deadlines.
3. Consider filing protests with CBP before each entry’s protest deadline (180 days after liquidation).
4. Consider filing an action at the CIT. |
| BACKGROUND | On December 15, 2025, the Court of International Trade issued an Opinion and Order in the case of AGS Co. Auto. Sols. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in which it stated “While the Executive Orders are extant, there is no Customs decision of a type that can be made and protested; hence no § 1514 finality of liquidation occurs. As long as this court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i), the court can provide remedial relief, as the Government here acknowledges.” This Opinion and Order suggest that one must have a case before the CIT to receive a refund and that protest is unnecessary.

On February 20, 2026, the President revoked the Executive Orders that directed the imposition of the IEEPA tariffs. On March 4, 2026, the CIT issued an order (amended March 5, 2026) directing CBP to liquidate all unliquidated entries without IEEPA duties. The CIT also ordered that all entries for which liquidation is not final to be reliquidated with a refund of the IEEPA duties.

On March 6, 2026, the CIT suspended the March 4 order “to the extent that it directs immediate compliance.” CBP continues to provide updates on the “CAPE” refund process proposed on March 6.

On March 20, 2026, the CIT and the parties in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States held a conference to discuss the progress of CBP’s refund system, CAPE. The CIT subsequently amended its order of March 4 (as amended March 5) to explicitly cover all duties imposed by the Executive Orders promulgated under IEEPA, including those imposed on imports from Brazil and India. |
| DETAILS | On March 27, 2026, the CIT amended it’s March 20, 2026 order to include entries for which liquidation is final shall be reliquidated without IEEPA duties.

Additionally, CBP filed a declaration on March 31, 2026, stating that because of the prior Order from the CIT, “Phase 1” of the CAPE development is focused on the processing of entries that are either unliquidated or for which the 90-day voluntary reliquidation period had not expired. The following entries will not be accepted as part of Phase 1 of the CAPE deployment:
• Entries that have been flagged for reconciliation;
• Reconciliation entries;
• Entries designated on a drawback claim;
• Entries covered by an open protest;
• Entries without a liquidation status in ACE;
• Entries subject to AD/CVD for which liquidation is pending in accordance with 19 U.S.C § 1504(d).

The CAPE progress report and the recent CIT Order implied that it may not be necessary to file a protest and that the filing of a protest may actually result in a delay of the refund process. Nonetheless, we suggest that importers approach these issues with caution and continue to monitor protest deadlines, file protest before the expiration of the 180-day protest period, and file an action at the Court of International Trade for the following reasons:
1. Finality of Liquidation. It is very rare for the CIT or CBP to order the reliquidation of an entry that is liquidated and for which no protest is filed. There are strong policy reasons that the entry process has an “end date” and that importers and CBP take action within the statutorily defined period.
2. Direction by the Court of International Trade. In its prior Order the CIT advised that importers “should be aware” of the remedies provided under protest. Additionally, in its April 1 settlement conference order, the CIT again cautioned that “[c]onsidering that no resolution has been reached with respect to the reliquidation, by way of CAPE, of entries for which liquidation has become final, importers should be aware of the remedies available under 19 U.S.C. § 1514.”
3. Deadlines continue to run. There is no stay on the liquidation of entries. This means the deadlines for filing a protest will continue to expire (protests are due 180 days after liquidation, which typically occurs 314 days after entry).
4. Possible Appeals. The Orders of the CIT remain open to appeal on several issues, including the finality of liquidation, and the ability of the CIT to issue a universal remedy. Decisions on these issues may have a precedential impact on future issues.
5. CBP has not filed an answer in *Atmus Filtration.* We have yet to see any arguments from CBP about the refund process. It appears that CBP understands that it needs to develop a refund process – CAPE – but no arguments have been heard with regard to the applicable legal issues.
6. Prior Statement About Futility of Protest. The CIT had previously stated that the filing of a protest would be futile and that they have authority to require the refund of duties over all actions for which they have jurisdiction. The filing of an action at the CIT provides such jurisdiction and would seem to support the recovery of duties.
7. Recovery of duties for which protest has expired is not guaranteed because not all importers have litigation before the CIT. There is no conclusive or binding statement or order allowing for all importers to receive refunds. CBP has not abandoned its previous position that only those who have a case before the CIT may be entitled to a refund for finally liquidated entries (AGS Co. Auto. Sols. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection).

For these reasons, our advice remains that the best way to protect all interests in the recovery of the IEEPA tariffs is for importers to file protective actions at the CIT and to monitor entries for liquidation, and to file protests, as necessary. As it appears that the CIT is attempting to relieve the need to file protests, we suggest that importers refrain from such filing until close to the expiration of the 180-day protest period in order to allow the legal process to play out.

Finally, we reiterate the importance of assuring that you have an active account on CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (“ACE”) and that you register for ACH Refund processing. CBP reports that a very small percentage of importers have taken these steps. |
| BASIS | International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.) |
| CITE | CIT Order (March 27, 2026): Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01259 (Ct. Int’l Trade Mar. 20, 2026).

CIT Order (March 20, 2026): Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01259 (Ct. Int’l Trade Mar. 20, 2026).

CIT Order (March 5, 2026): Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01259 (Ct. Int’l Trade Mar. 5, 2026).

CIT Order (December 15, 2025): AGS Co. Auto. Sols. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Court No. 25-00255 (Ct. Int’l Trade Dec. 15, 2025). |
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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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