CAPE Refund Monitor — Edition 4

Program Progress — Week of August 28

CBP continued processing CAPE refund claims through the week of August 28. Processing velocity held steady at approximately 1.1M entries per week across Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Key developments this week:

• ACH enrollment closures: CBP flagged 330,000+ importer accounts with invalid or missing ACH enrollment. Refunds to unenrolled accounts are being held pending resolution.
• Phase 3 timeline confirmed: CBP Deputy Commissioner Brandon Lord's declaration (filed August 25 in the Freestyle World litigation at the Court of International Trade) confirms Phase 3 launches October 6 for finally liquidated entries.
• Section 338 Canada: The Federal Circuit heard argument on Section 338 Canadian tariff claims on August 19. Decision expected Q4 2026.

Litigation & Regulatory Docket

330,000+ Accounts Flagged — Check Your Enrollment

CBP's CSMS #68891042 identified over 330,000 importer accounts with invalid, missing, or expired ACH enrollment. Refunds to unenrolled accounts are placed in a hold queue — they do not expire, but they will not disburse until ACH enrollment is resolved.

How to check: Contact your licensed customs broker or log in to ACE at ace.cbp.dhs.gov → Account Management → ACH Enrollment.

Section 338 Canadian Tariffs — Federal Circuit Argument

The Federal Circuit heard oral argument on August 19 on whether Section 338 tariffs on Canadian goods are subject to the same CAPE refund mechanism as IEEPA tariffs. A decision is expected in Q4 2026. Importers of Canadian goods should monitor this closely — a favorable ruling could open a new CAPE phase for Canadian-origin entries.

Class Action — Indirect Importer Coverage

Plaintiffs in the consolidated CAPE litigation filed a motion for class certification on August 12 seeking to extend CAPE eligibility to indirect importers (those who did not directly pay duties to CBP but absorbed IEEPA costs through DDP pricing). CBP opposed on August 14, citing administrative burden. A plaintiff reply was filed September 5. The Court is expected to rule by October 15, 2026.

New Section 301 Claims Filed

A new wave of Section 301 tariff challenge petitions was filed in September 2026 targeting the USTR's product exclusion reinstatement process. These are separate from IEEPA CAPE and do not affect Phase 3 timelines.

Practitioner Notes

Trade attorneys reporting increased CBP requests for supplemental documentation on entries with mixed country-of-origin — particularly for goods with Vietnamese or Taiwanese assembly involving Chinese components. Importers with complex supply chains should review their country-of-origin determinations before Phase 3 filing.

CIT Records Access

There are two separate access paths depending on what you need. To review public court docket entries (filings, orders, declarations in the CAPE litigation), use PACER at pacer.gov and search the Court of International Trade docket. To obtain your own CBP entry-level records (duty payments, entry summaries, liquidation data), submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request directly to CBP's FOIA Division — not through PACER. Your Importer of Record (IOR) number is required for CBP FOIA submissions.