U.S. Importers: Your IEEPA Tariff Refund Is Waiting

The Supreme Court’s February 20, 2026 ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump held IEEPA tariffs unlawful, opening $166 billion in refunds for 330,000 importers. Any U.S. Importer of Record (IOR) named on CBP Form 7501 who paid IEEPA duties between March 2025 and February 24, 2026 may be eligible. Eligibility is determined by three factors: your entry's liquidation status at the time you file a CAPE Declaration, whether a Type 09 reconciliation entry has been filed, and which CBP CAPE phase is active when you file. You do not need to have filed a lawsuit. You do not need to be represented by an attorney. CAPE Phase 1 and Phase 2 are open to all qualifying importers of record or their authorized customs broker. The only importers currently excluded from CAPE are those whose entries are finally liquidated more than 80 days ago and who did not file an individual CIT lawsuit — those entries fall under CAPE Phase 3, which under DOJ's current position is limited to approximately 4,000 CIT plaintiffs.

Before your licensed customs broker can submit a CAPE Declaration in ACE on your behalf, four things must be in place: (1) An active ACE Secure Data Portal account — either your own IOR account or your broker's filer account with delegated authority. If you have not used ACE in 45 days, reactivate it before attempting to file. (2) U.S. bank account enrolled for ACH in ACE — refunds cannot disburse without valid banking information. As of June 29, 2026, 8,384 certified refunds are stuck at Treasury solely because the importer never provided ACH details. (3) Your entry summary numbers — from CBP Form 7501, which your customs broker filed. Run the Entry Summary Detail Report (ES-003) in ACE and filter for Chapter 99 IEEPA HTS codes (9903.01.xx or 9903.02.xx). (4) Your licensed customs broker's authorization — under a valid Power of Attorney, your broker can file the CAPE Declaration on your behalf. They must be the same broker who filed the original entry summaries, or the IOR must file directly.

For Phase 2 reconciliation entries, filing sequence is critical. If you file your Type 09 reconciliation entry before your CAPE Declaration, those underlying entries immediately drop out of Phase 2 eligibility into a future, slower phase. The correct sequence: file your CAPE Declaration first, wait for validation confirmation in ACE, then file the Type 09. The only exception: if your reconciliation deadline is within 30 days, CBP guidance says to prioritize the Type 09 to protect your reconciliation filing window. For Phase 1 entries, there is no Type 09 issue — but filing speed affects your interest accrual. Statutory interest under 19 U.S.C. § 1505 accrues from the date duties were paid. The earlier your CAPE Declaration is filed and validated, the more interest you collect. Industry-wide interest is accruing at approximately $650 million per month.

Only two parties can submit a CAPE Declaration in ACE: (1) the Importer of Record listed on Form 7501, or (2) the licensed customs broker who filed the original entry summaries under a valid Power of Attorney. Your broker is the right party to file — they already have ACE access, entry history, and the technical know-how to submit CSV files correctly. What they often lack is the time and capacity to handle CAPE prep for every client simultaneously. That is where The Tariff Bureau fits: we do the eligibility screening, entry analysis, HTS code validation, and CAPE Declaration CSV preparation — then hand the ready-to-file package to your broker for ACE submission. You keep your existing broker relationship. We handle the prep work.