If your company paid the reciprocal or fentanyl tariffs on imports in 2025 or early 2026, you are owed money. The IEEPA tariff refund process is real, it is running, and by mid-September 2026 U.S. Customs and Border Protection had already sent roughly $122 billion in duties and interest back to importers. It is also confusing, because the right filing path depends entirely on where each of your entries sits in the liquidation cycle. This guide walks through what happened, how CBP is processing refunds, and what an importer should do this month.
On February 20, 2026 the Supreme Court decided Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (consolidated with V.O.S. Selections) 6 to 3, holding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. That ruling ended both the country-by-country “reciprocal” tariffs and the fentanyl and border tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. On March 4, 2026 the Court of International Trade issued a nationwide refund order directing CBP to liquidate or reliquidate entries without the IEEPA duties for all importers, not just the companies that sued. The government has appealed parts of that order to the Federal Circuit, but refunds have continued while the appeal is pending.
One thing that did not disappear is tariff exposure. A 10 percent Section 122 surcharge ran from February 24 to July 24, 2026, and on July 24 a new set of Section 301 tariffs (10 to 12.5 percent on roughly 60 economies) took its place. The refund is about the IEEPA duties specifically, and you should keep paying and tracking the replacement duties as normal.
CBP built a dedicated module in ACE called CAPE, the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. The importer of record or its licensed customs broker files a “CAPE Declaration” against eligible entries, CBP validates it, and the refund is paid with interest under 19 CFR 24.36. CAPE has rolled out in three phases:
Refunds are paid by ACH only. As of September 11, 2026 more than 20,000 refunds worth about $1.3 billion were sitting undelivered because the importer was not enrolled in ACH refund. If you have not enrolled, do it first, because nothing else in this article matters until CBP can actually pay you.
The filing path depends on liquidation status, so start by pulling an entry-level report from ACE or from your broker and sorting entries into three buckets.
| Entry status | What to file | Deadline pressure |
|---|---|---|
| Unliquidated | Post-summary correction or CAPE declaration to remove the IEEPA duties before liquidation | File before the entry liquidates (roughly 314 days after entry) |
| Liquidated, within 180 days | CAPE declaration; a protest under 19 USC 1514 is still legally available but CBP is steering importers to CAPE | 180 days from the liquidation date |
| Finally liquidated (past the 180-day protest window) | A 28 USC 1581(i) action at the Court of International Trade, then CAPE Phase 3 | Two-year statute of limitations; the trigger date is contested, so the conservative reading is two years from the date you paid |
A worked example: an entry filed April 5, 2025 that liquidated on schedule and was never protested is finally liquidated today. Under the conservative reading you would need a CIT complaint on file by April 5, 2027. More than 2,000 companies had filed by March 2026, and the July 15, 2026 CIT order confirmed that finally liquidated entries get refunded for importers who have a case on file. If you are relying on the class certification hearing held August 6, 2026 to cover you, understand that the outcome is not settled and DOJ has appealed the universal refund order.
First, drawback and CAPE are mutually exclusive. An entry that has been designated on a duty drawback claim is not eligible for a CAPE refund, so review any drawback program you ran on IEEPA-era imports before you file. Second, the refund is calculated on the duty actually paid, so the value declared at entry drives the check. If your broker used first sale valuation or corrected classifications through a post-summary correction, make sure the CAPE declaration is built on the final, corrected entry data.
Argents is a licensed U.S. customs broker with nearly 50 years of brokerage experience, and our brokerage team files CAPE declarations and post-summary corrections for the importers we clear. If you need help sorting your entries or you inherited a mess from a previous broker, talk to our customs team. For the rest of your duty picture, our guides on HTS codes and duty rates and customs bond types cover the basics that determine how much you paid in the first place.
Any importer of record that paid the IEEPA reciprocal or fentanyl and border tariffs. The March 4, 2026 CIT order applies to all importers, but finally liquidated entries currently require a Court of International Trade case on file to be refunded through CAPE Phase 3.
CBP has generally issued refunds 60 to 90 days after a CAPE declaration is accepted. Refunds include interest and are paid by ACH only, so ACH refund enrollment is required.
A protest under 19 USC 1514 remains available within 180 days of liquidation, but CBP has been directing importers to file CAPE declarations instead. For entries past the protest window, the remedy is a 28 USC 1581(i) action at the CIT.
Not yet. The Section 122 surcharge (February 24 to July 24, 2026) was struck down by the CIT for three named plaintiffs only and that ruling is on appeal. The July 24, 2026 Section 301 tariffs are being challenged in two CIT suits but remain in force and payable.
No. An entry designated on a drawback claim is not eligible for a CAPE refund, so importers should review any drawback filings on IEEPA-era entries before filing.