How to get a tariff refund (IEEPA duties) — the CAPE process step by step

This is the process for importers of record with IEEPA duties on entries made between February 4, 2025 and February 23, 2026. If you are a consumer, read Will I get a tariff refund check? instead.

1. Confirm the entries carry IEEPA duties

IEEPA duties appear on the entry summary (CBP Form 7501) as HTSUS lines beginning 9903.01 or 9903.02. The fastest way to list them all is the ACE report ES-003 Entry Summary Line Tariff Details, which flags every line with an IEEPA indicator. Your broker can run it. Section 232 and Section 301 duties are not refundable through this process.

2. Check the liquidation status of each entry

CAPE Phase 1 and Phase 2 accept entries that are unliquidated (including the liquidation statuses extended, suspended and under review, which CBP's IEEPA refunds page, read October 8, 2026, says "may be included"; not an AD/CVD entry that is pending liquidation) or liquidated 80 days ago or less. Entries liquidated more than 80 days ago are "finally liquidated" and are not accepted today; CBP's Phase 3 for those entries was set to deploy on October 6, 2026 (CBP declaration of September 15, as reported), only for importers that sued at the Court of International Trade and whose entries a court ordered reliquidated; CBP's IEEPA refunds page does not say that it is live (read October 8, 2026). Entries with an open protest are excluded; CBP says importers who protested solely for the IEEPA refund may withdraw the protest and use CAPE. Warehouse entries (types 21/22) are rejected since July 7, 2026 — list the withdrawals instead.

The eligibility checker walks through these branches.

3. Make sure ACH refund details are on file in ACE

All CAPE refunds are paid electronically. CBP reported 20,184 refunds worth about $1.3 billion on hold as of September 11, 2026 because the importer had not given bank (ACH) details (CBP declaration of September 15, reported). Set it up under the ACH Refund tab in the ACE Secure Data Portal before you file.

4. File the CAPE declaration

In the ACE portal, the CAPE tab appears for Importer, Organizational Broker and Filer accounts. Upload a CSV listing entry numbers only — up to 9,999 per declaration, as many declarations as you need. No HTS data, no duty amounts: ACE removes the Chapter 99 IEEPA lines and recalculates.

Who may submit: the importer of record, or the customs broker that filed the entries on its behalf. Once an entry is in an accepted declaration it cannot be removed, and no post-summary correction or protest can be filed on it until it (re)liquidates.

5. Wait for liquidation and payment

Unliquidated entries are set to liquidate 45 days after the declaration is accepted; already-liquidated entries reliquidate the next business day. CBP says valid refunds are "generally issued within 60–90 days" of acceptance, with interest from the deposit date at the IRS overpayment rate (6% for corporations, 7% otherwise in Q3–Q4 2026). The refund calculator estimates the total.

Do you need a firm?

You can file yourself if you have ACE access and the entry list. Importers use firms for three reasons: to build a clean entry list across many brokers, to handle finally liquidated or protested entries (which need protests, court action or a reliquidation order), or because they lack ACE access. Success fees stated on this site run from about 1.5% to 25% of the refund, or flat filing fees. Compare them on the comparison page; every stated fee carries the date we checked it.

General information from public sources, not legal or customs advice. Checked October 8, 2026.