Class Certification Is Contested. Oral Arguments
Are Days Away — Here’s Where It Stands.
Judge Eaton has scheduled two oral arguments on class certification: at 11:00 AM ET in the V.O.S. Selections case (Terry Precision Cycling’s motion) and at 11:00 AM ET in Freestyle World. On July 28, DOJ filed its brief opposing certification, calling the motion untimely. CBP’s Phase 3 progress report was due to the court by 5:00 PM ET on August 4, with a closed conference set for August 5. Meanwhile the tariff landscape keeps moving: Section 122 lapsed July 24 and was replaced the same instant by Section 301 duties of 10–12.5% on 60 economies, and new Section 338 tariffs of 50% on certain Canadian goods take effect August 19 with no USMCA carve-out. CBP’s most recent filing reports $121.75 billion accepted for CAPE processing and $86.3 billion sent to Treasury for disbursement, out of the $166 billion pool. Here is everything importers need to know right now.
Current Status • August 4, 2026 • The Tariff Bureau Intelligence
Two Class Certification Hearings, a Phase 3 Report, and a New Tariff Authority Landing August 19.
The next two weeks decide more than the last two months did. On July 28, DOJ filed its opposition to class certification in Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States — the lead IEEPA refund case since Euro-Notions voluntarily dismissed on July 16 — arguing the motion came far too late. Judge Eaton responded by setting oral arguments: August 6 at 11:00 AM ET on Terry Precision Cycling’s certification motion in V.O.S. Selections (CIT No. 25-00066), and August 19 at 11:00 AM ET on Freestyle World’s motions to lift the stay and certify a class (CIT No. 26-01088). CBP’s Phase 3 progress report was due to the court by 5:00 PM ET on August 4, followed by a closed conference on August 5. On the tariff side, Section 122 expired by statute at 12:01 AM EDT on July 24 and new Section 301 duties of 10% or 12.5% on 60 economies took effect the same instant; the in-transit grace period closed July 28. Goods already subject to Section 232 are exempt from the new 301 rather than stacked with it. And on July 20 the President invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 — for the first time in the statute’s history — imposing 50% duties on certain Canadian motor vehicle, alcohol and dairy goods effective August 19, with no USMCA exemption. CBP’s July 13 declaration reports $121.75 billion accepted for CAPE processing and $86.3 billion sent to Treasury for disbursement.
⚡ The Tariff Bureau • Current Strategy
Three Recovery Tracks While Phase 3 Stays Court-Gated
Phase 3 exists, but only for importers who sued. Phase 1 and 2 eligibility, protest rights under 19 U.S.C. §1514, and the permanent Section 301/232/338 architecture give importers three sustained recovery and protection tracks regardless of how the appeal resolves.
Critical Developments — Most Recent First
Section 338 Invoked for the First Time Ever — 50% on Certain Canadian Goods August 19, and USMCA Does Not Save You
On July 20, 2026, the President signed three proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, imposing an additional 50% ad valorem duty on certain Canadian-origin goods effective 12:01 AM ET on August 19, 2026. This is the first time in the statute’s history it has been used to impose tariffs. The three tranches address motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, and dairy, and together cover roughly 554 eight-digit tariff lines — but the annexes reach well past those industry labels, into products such as wine, cement, furniture and hockey sticks. Three points importers routinely get wrong: USMCA-qualifying goods are not exempt — there is no USMCA carve-out in any of the three proclamations; the duty stacks on top of existing duties, taxes and fees rather than replacing them; and Section 338 carries no statutory expiration date, unlike Section 122’s 150-day limit. Excluded categories include energy products, potash, fish, critical minerals, and goods already subject to Section 232. The 30-day statutory waiting period leaves room for negotiation, and both governments have said talks are intensifying.
Check your Canadian-origin goods against all three annexes line by line — do not assume the duty tracks the industry named in each proclamation’s title. The duty attaches on entry for consumption, so entries made before August 19 are outside it. Watch the bonded warehouse and FTZ treatment closely, and note that these tariffs can be switched off as quickly as they were switched on.
Federal Circuit Dismisses Appeal No. 2026-1898 — the April 7 Injunction Is No Longer Under Appellate Challenge
On July 28, 2026, the Federal Circuit granted the government’s unopposed motion under FRAP 42(b)(2) to deconsolidate and voluntarily dismiss Appeal No. 2026-1898 — the appeal arising from the Euro-Notions case — with the mandate issuing the same day and each side bearing its own costs. The practical effect is that the CIT’s April 7 injunction, which established the CAPE refund process, is no longer under active appellate challenge. This is narrower than it sounds: Appeal Nos. 2026-1895 (lead), -1897 and -1899 remain consolidated and live, and those are the appeals that target the refund order’s application to finally liquidated entries held by importers who never sued.
The machinery of CAPE itself is now on firmer ground — the order that built it is no longer being appealed. The fight that still matters to non-plaintiff importers with finally liquidated entries is unchanged and continues in the consolidated appeals.
DOJ Opposes Class Certification — Oral Arguments Set for August 6 and August 19
On July 28, the Department of Justice filed its opposition to class certification in Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States (CIT No. 26-01088), arguing that the motion was untimely and that certifying a class of importers who paid IEEPA duties but never filed suit would be improper. This continues the government’s position that importers with finally liquidated entries must file individual CIT lawsuits to recover refunds. Judge Eaton ordered oral argument on July 30, setting Freestyle World’s motions to lift the stay and for class certification for August 19 at 11:00 AM ET. A separate oral argument on Terry Precision Cycling’s certification motion had already been set on July 24 for August 6 at 11:00 AM ET in V.O.S. Selections (CIT No. 25-00066).
Class certification is actively contested — do not plan around it. If you have finally liquidated entries and have not filed a CIT complaint, the August arguments will clarify the landscape, but the safest position remains filing your own protective action now. The Tariff Bureau can coordinate this referral to trade counsel.
Section 122 Expired — Replaced Same-Day by New Section 301 Tariffs on 60 Economies
The Section 122 global 10% tariff expired by statute at 12:01 AM EDT on July 24, 2026, its hard 150-day statutory limit. There was no gap: on July 23, the President signed a memorandum directing USTR to impose new Section 301 tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies — covering roughly 99.4% of all U.S. imports — based on the forced-labor enforcement investigations USTR opened on March 12 and concluded in June. The new duties took effect the same instant Section 122 lapsed, under Chapter 99 headings 9903.05.20–9903.06.21. Note that “60 economies” and “80 countries” both circulate in trade press and describe the same action — the EU’s 27 member states sit inside the 60. Exempt: USMCA-qualifying Canadian and Mexican goods, CAFTA-DR textiles and apparel, goods already subject to Section 232, civil aircraft, pharmaceuticals, informational materials, donations, most Chapter 98, and 471 additional HTSUS subheadings USTR added after more than 1,600 public comments. The ocean-only in-transit exception — loaded before July 24, entered before July 28 — has now closed. Separately, Brazil received its own distinct 25% Section 301 tariff under HTSUS 9903.05.01, effective 12:01 AM ET July 22, from a different investigation entirely; that duty applies in addition to other applicable duties and fees.
Do not assume your landed costs dropped when Section 122 expired — for most importers they did not, because the new Section 301 duty took its place the same instant. Confirm which of the 60 economies applies to your supply chain, check the exemption annexes, and recalculate your landed cost basis under the new Chapter 99 headings before your next entry. If your goods are already subject to Section 232, confirm the exemption is being applied rather than assuming the duties stack.
CIT Orders CBP to Reliquidate Finally Liquidated Entries — But Only for the ~3,700 Filed Cases
On July 17, 2026, CIT Senior Judge Richard Eaton issued an order directing CBP to reliquidate, without regard to IEEPA duties, any and all entries that have been liquidated for more than 80 days and on which the plaintiffs made estimated IEEPA deposits. The order follows the transfer of more than 3,700 pending IEEPA cases to Judge Eaton’s docket, and explicitly supplies the legal authority CBP said in May it lacked. On the arithmetic: the order defines finally liquidated entries by reference to the 90-day reliquidation period under 19 U.S.C. §1501, but directs relief at entries liquidated more than 80 days earlier, matching CAPE’s cutoff and its 10-day processing buffer. The order applies only to companies that already filed complaints at the CIT. It is a case-linked procedure, not a public opening of Phase 3: plaintiffs’ counsel must first supply importer of record identification numbers to CBP, which then accepts the resulting CAPE declarations. The lead case is now Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States (CIT No. 26-01088) after Euro-Notions voluntarily dismissed on July 16.
If you have finally liquidated entries and have not filed a CIT complaint, this order does not apply to you — you are still outside the door it just opened. With DOJ actively opposing class certification and arguments set for August 6 and 19, filing your own complaint remains the most reliable path. Talk to trade counsel now rather than after the hearings.
$121.75 Billion Accepted, $86.3 Billion Sent to Treasury — Pace Is Accelerating
In a July 13 status declaration to Judge Eaton, CBP Executive Director Brandon Lord reported that as of 3:00 PM EDT on July 10, 2026, approximately $121.75 billion in potential and certified refunds had been accepted for CAPE processing, and approximately $86.3 billion in refunds (duties plus interest) had been completed, certified and sent to Treasury for disbursement — up from $104.29 billion / $71.06 billion as of June 29, eleven days earlier. Roughly half of the full $166 billion pool remains outstanding, with interest continuing to accrue on the balance. The same filing notes 9,837 refunds remain untransmitted to Treasury solely because the importer of record has not provided ACH account information — up from 8,384 as of June 29.
Note the distinction that matters for your cash flow forecast: money sent to Treasury for disbursement is not the same as money in your account. If your CAPE Declaration was accepted in June, check your ACE portal status. If you have not enrolled for ACH, do it today — nearly 10,000 refunds are sitting unpaid for that reason alone.
How the Class Certification Fight Started — a Rule 23(b)(2) Motion Filed in June
On June 4, 2026, plaintiffs in V.O.S. Selections — represented by counsel from the original Supreme Court litigation, including the Liberty Justice Center and appellate attorney Neal Katyal — moved to certify a mandatory class under Rule 23(b)(2) covering all importers whose IEEPA refund claims remain ineligible for CAPE processing. The class is defined by current CAPE ineligibility rather than by final liquidation alone, though finally liquidated entries are the principal category involved. If certified, class members could recover without each filing a separate CIT lawsuit, and the government could be compelled to open CAPE to the entire class. A parallel motion is pending in Freestyle World. The government opposes both.
Certification is not guaranteed and the government is fighting it hard. This does not replace the value of filing your own protective action now — but the August 6 and August 19 arguments are the next real inflection point.
Refunds Have Reached Only 30% of Affected Entries — Concentrated in Large Importers
A Cato Institute analysis of CBP’s own court filings found that the $104.29 billion in refunds authorized as of June 29 covered only about 30% of all import entries on which IEEPA duties were paid, even though it represents roughly 60% of the total dollar value owed. In practice, the largest, highest-value entries — concentrated among large importers — have moved through CAPE fastest, while the much larger number of smaller-dollar entries, more likely held by small and mid-sized importers, remain in the queue.
If you are a smaller importer and your CAPE Declaration has been sitting in validation for weeks, this data suggests you are not alone — and it reinforces the value of a clean, well-documented filing so you do not fall further behind larger claims.
Section 301 Forced-Labor Hearing Concluded — Tariffs Took Effect July 24
The public comment period on USTR’s Section 301 forced-labor tariffs closed July 6, 2026, with a public hearing held July 7. USTR proposed rates of 10% for countries with partial enforcement regimes or existing trade agreements and 12.5% for the remainder. Update: the final action took effect on July 24, 2026, the same instant Section 122 lapsed. Country-by-country rates in the final action differ from the proposal in places, and several economies are subject to combined rates capped net of MFN — check the final annexes for your specific origin rather than relying on the proposed rate. Full details in the tariff regime change card above.
Warehouse Entries (Types 21/22) Came Off CAPE July 7 — File Withdrawals Instead
Effective July 7, 2026 per CSMS #69127837, warehouse entries (Entry Types 21 and 22) are no longer accepted on a CAPE Declaration. Warehouse withdrawals (Entry Types 31, 32, 34, and 38) continue to be accepted, with refunds processed upon (re)liquidation of the associated warehouse entry. Warehouse entries accepted on a CAPE Declaration between April 20 and July 6 without a corresponding withdrawal submission will not be (re)liquidated with an IEEPA refund — filers in that position need a separate CAPE Declaration covering the withdrawals on which IEEPA duties were paid.
If you operate bonded warehouses or filed Type 21/22 entries on CAPE before July 7, audit your declarations now and refile on the withdrawals before your refund stalls. Flag warehouse activity in your free assessment.
$71.06 Billion Sent to Treasury — But 4.36M Entries Failed Validation and 8,384 Refunds Were Stuck
CBP’s July 1 status declaration — filed while Euro-Notions Florida v. United States was still the lead case, before its July 16 voluntary dismissal — reported that as of June 29, 18.1 million entries had cleared file validation, 15.92 million had been liquidated or reliquidated without IEEPA duties, and approximately $71.06 billion in refunds (duties plus interest) had been certified and sent to Treasury for disbursement. The same filing shows the friction: 4.36 million entries failed entry-level checks — many for fixable reasons such as importer/filer mismatches, entry-number formatting, and CSV template misalignment — and 8,384 certified refunds were sitting at Treasury solely because the importer of record (or its Form 4811 designee) never provided ACH banking information. As reported above, the July 13 declaration shows this pace has since accelerated to $86.3 billion.
Money is moving — for importers with clean filings and complete ACH enrollment. If your declaration was rejected, most failure reasons are correctable on resubmission. If you filed and have not been paid, verify your ACH banking information in the ACE Portal today.
CAPE Phase 2 Launched — 2.8 Million Entries, $28.7 Billion in Scope
CAPE Phase 2 went live on June 29, 2026. Phase 2 covers reconciliation-flagged entries (types 01, 02, 06) that have not yet had a Type 09 reconciliation filing — but only where the entry is unliquidated or liquidated within 80 days of the CAPE declaration filing date. Both conditions must be met. CBP’s Executive Assistant Commissioner for Trade, Susan Thomas, estimated Phase 2 covers approximately 2.8 million entries and $28.7 billion in potential refunds, bringing combined Phase 1 + Phase 2 coverage to roughly $130 billion of the $166 billion total. Reconciliation entries filed before roughly May 31, 2025 on a standard 314-day liquidation cycle will generally have liquidated more than 80 days ago and fall outside Phase 2’s scope. AD/CVD-flagged entries, previewed by trade counsel as part of Phase 2, were not included in the June 29 deployment and remain pending further CBP guidance.
If you have reconciliation entries from the earliest months of the IEEPA tariff period, do not assume Phase 2 covers them — confirm your liquidation dates and consider an individual CIT complaint in parallel. Start at tariffbureau.com/assessment for a free eligibility screening — we coordinate directly with a licensed customs broker to get your documentation filed.
Commissioner Scott Does Not Testify — Government Seeks Mandamus, CBP Discloses Phase 2/3 Scope
Judge Eaton’s Order to Show Cause hearing on June 9 ended without the CIT lifting its stay of the universal refund order. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott did not testify in person; the government instead filed a petition for a writ of mandamus at the Federal Circuit seeking to prevent the Commissioner from being required to testify, and CBP’s Executive Assistant Commissioner for Trade, Susan Thomas, appeared in his place. The Federal Circuit granted the government’s request to withdraw the mandamus petition on June 9, dismissing that proceeding. The hearing produced two key disclosures: CAPE Phase 2 (reconciliation entries) was confirmed for a June 29 launch, and Phase 3 (finally liquidated entries) was confirmed for late July — but limited to importers who have filed suit at the CIT. EAC Thomas also reported at the time that approximately $90 billion in IEEPA refunds had been accepted for processing, with roughly $23 billion transmitted to Treasury.
The government is contesting both the scope of the refund order and the procedural mechanics of enforcing it. Importers without a filed CIT complaint risk being excluded from Phase 3 entirely. Complete, well-documented Phase 1/2 submissions are processing fastest — incomplete filings are being deprioritized.
DOJ Appeals CIT’s Universal Refund Order — Opening Brief Was Due August 3
The Department of Justice filed notices of appeal of the CIT’s universal IEEPA refund order at the Federal Circuit in early June 2026, consolidated under the lead case V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, No. 2026-1895. The government does not contest refunds on unliquidated or non-final entries — those continue processing under Phases 1 and 2. Instead, the appeal targets the order’s application to finally liquidated entries for importers who never filed suit at the CIT, arguing the CIT’s order amounts to an impermissible universal injunction. The government has indicated it may seek to retain an estimated $30 billion or more in IEEPA tariffs collected on those entries if its position prevails. Per the Federal Circuit docket, appellants’ opening brief was due August 3, 2026; we have not independently confirmed the filing. Member appeal No. 2026-1898 was dismissed on July 28 (see above); Nos. 2026-1895, -1897 and -1899 remain consolidated. A full merits decision is still expected to take considerably longer.
Importers who have not filed suit at the CIT and hold finally liquidated entries face the most exposure. File a protest under 19 U.S.C. §1514 where the 180-day window is still open, and evaluate an individual CIT complaint with trade counsel. The Tariff Bureau prepares documentation for these tracks on contingency and coordinates with your customs broker or trade counsel of record to file.
CBP Reverses on Finally Liquidated Entries — Asserts It Lacks Authority Without Importer-Specific Orders
In a May 29 motion, CBP asserted for the first time that it lacks authority to reliquidate entries past the statutory reliquidation window without importer-specific court orders. This directly contradicted CBP’s own published IEEPA FAQ, which had promised broader Phase 2 coverage. Judge Eaton denied CBP’s motion to amend and ordered Commissioner Scott to appear June 9 (later superseded by the government’s mandamus petition, which the government itself withdrew on June 9). The July 17 order has since supplied exactly the authority CBP said it lacked — but only for importers who filed suit.
If your entries include any finally liquidated entries (generally 80+ days past liquidation), do not wait for a public Phase 3. File a CIT complaint now through trade counsel. The Tariff Bureau can coordinate this referral.
CIT Ruled Section 122 Global 10% Tariff Unlawful — Relief Limited to Three Plaintiffs, Stayed on Appeal
On May 7, 2026, a divided CIT panel (2-1) held that the 10% global Section 122 tariff imposed via Proclamation 11012, effective February 24, 2026, exceeded the President’s authority — the proclamation did not identify a balance-of-payments deficit as Congress defined it in 1974. But the injunction and refund order applied only to the three plaintiff importers (Burlap & Barrel, Basic Fun, and the State of Washington). The government appealed on May 8, and the Federal Circuit issued a stay on June 11. Section 122 expired by statute on July 24, 2026, making the appeal largely moot for ongoing collection — but the ruling remains relevant precedent for refund claims on duties collected during the 150-day window. Because Section 122 entries only began February 24, most will not reach final liquidation until roughly early 2027, leaving the 180-day protest window open well into next year.
No refund path is open yet for non-plaintiff importers — but the ruling is strong precedent. Document every Section 122 duty payment, consider post-summary corrections on unliquidated entries, and calendar protest deadlines. Flag Section 122 exposure in your intake.
$90 Billion Accepted, $23 Billion Sent to Treasury — Phase 1 ACH Refunds Actively Hitting Accounts
CBP confirmed to the CIT that it was processing approximately $90 billion in IEEPA refunds accepted for processing — with approximately $23 billion completed and sent to Treasury for disbursement. Phase 1 ACH payments began May 12. The CAPE system had accepted over 15 million individual entries and liquidated more than 8.5 million — compared with just 338,000 entries CBP processed for tariff refunds of any kind in all of the prior fiscal year. Importers with clean Phase 1 CAPE declarations and active ACH enrollment are receiving refunds now. Interest under 19 U.S.C. §1505 continues to accrue, at an estimated $650 million per month industry-wide.
Log into ACE and run the ES-022 report to check your CAPE declaration status, entry validation, and ACH payment tracking. If you have not filed yet, Phase 1 capacity remains open.
Cato Corporation Q1 Profit Triples — Directly Credits IEEPA Refund
Cato Corp (NYSE: CATO) reported Q1 2026 net income of $9.3 million vs. $3.3 million a year ago — a 3x increase management explicitly attributed to the company’s IEEPA refund claim. EPS came in at $0.47 vs. $0.17. This is the clearest public confirmation yet that IEEPA refunds are material balance sheet events for mid-market importers, not just large multinationals. It validates The Tariff Bureau’s core thesis: every eligible importer should be filing, not waiting.
Tariff Refund Act of 2026 (S.3905) — Legislative Backstop Independent of the Appeal
Senate bill S.3905, co-sponsored by Senator Hickenlooper (CO) and a bipartisan coalition, would require CBP to refund all IEEPA duties within 180 days of enactment with statutory interest — and create a priority queue for small businesses. Critically, this legislation would function as a backstop independent of the Federal Circuit appeal: a successful DOJ appeal would not defeat the bill’s mandate if enacted. A separate coalition of 26 Senators wrote to CBP Commissioner Scott calling for fully automated refunds using CBP’s existing data, bypassing the CAPE opt-in process entirely. The bill has not been enacted; treat it as a possible backstop, not a plan.
Section 301, 232 and Now 338 Anchor U.S. Tariff Architecture — Permanent Exposure for Importers
The post-IEEPA tariff landscape is now organized around three standing authorities: Section 232 as the national security tool, Section 301 as the country and policy unfair-trade tool, and now Section 338 as a discrimination-offset tool. Section 122 expired by statute on July 24, 2026 and was immediately replaced by the Section 301 forced-labor tariffs on 60 economies. On the metals side, the numbers importers still quote from 2025 are out of date: Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum have been 50% since June 2025 (copper joined at 50% in August 2025), and since April 6, 2026 they apply to the full customs value of covered articles rather than just the metal content, with 25% on many derivative articles and a temporarily reduced 15% on certain industrial and electrical grid equipment through 2027. A June 2026 proclamation further adjusted the derivative lists and lowered the U.S.-content threshold for the reduced rate from 95% to 85%. Section 338 duties of 50% on certain Canadian goods land August 19.
Tariffs are permanent, and the metals rules changed twice this year. Importers need ongoing classification analysis, supply chain rerouting advisory, and Section 301/232/338 exposure monitoring — not just a one-time IEEPA refund claim. If your landed-cost model still uses metal-content valuation or a 25% steel rate, it is wrong.
30% Error Rate in CAPE Filings — CBP Declares 2026 “Year of the Audit”
Gaia Dynamics analyzed over 300,000 IEEPA entry line items and found a 30% discrepancy rate in CAPE submissions. Common errors: wrong Chapter 99 HTS codes, entries not enrolled for ACH, CSV formatting errors, and mixing non-IEEPA entries into the declaration file. CBP has designated 2026 as “The Year of the Audit.” CAPE submissions reopen historical entries to CBP scrutiny. A rejected declaration does not just delay your refund — it can trigger a full compliance audit of your import history.
The Tariff Bureau • CAPE Phases 1 & 2 Open
File Your Claim Before the August Hearings
CAPE Phases 1 and 2 are open and $86 billion has already been sent to Treasury. Phase 3 is court-ordered but gated to importers who filed at the CIT. With DOJ opposing class certification and oral arguments on August 6 and August 19, the window to file a protective action is narrowing. Start your free assessment now — The Tariff Bureau handles eligibility screening, documentation, and preparation on contingency, and coordinates filing with a licensed customs broker.
Free Assessment → Start Your Claim → 📞 (404) 882-5839Mon–Fri 9am–6pm ET • [email protected] • Advisory only — not legal advice