Update: New CIT Case Takes The Lead For IEEPA Refunds

On April 7, U.S. importer and plaintiff Atmus Filtration voluntarily dismissed its U.S. Court of International Trade case challenging the application of International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA") duties to its entries. Judge Eaton, who had been presiding over the Atmus Filtration case and who has been assigned all IEEPA dockets at the court, subsequently lifted the stay on a similar case filed by Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. Later that day, once the U.S. Department of Justice Attorneys had filed entries of appearance in the Euro-Notions lawsuit, Judge Eaton issued an order on the new docket directing the refund of IEEPA tariffs to all importers.

In his April 7 Order, Judge Eaton directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to refund all IEEPA duties, regardless of whether the entry has been liquidated and whether the liquidation was final. This was the exact language the court used in the March 27 order in Atmus, discussed in our March 30 advisory, indicating the intent that Euro-Notions pick up right where Atmus left off.

The deadline for the U.S. Government to appeal this order has been pushed back to June 8, 2026. This has shifted from the prior date because the deadline is calculated from the CIT's April 7 Order in the Euro-Notions case. Like the last order issued in Atmus, the April 7 Order in Euro-Notions makes clear that it does not address whether there was statutory authority to use the IEEPA to remove de minimis treatment for small value entries.

Prior to dismissal of the Atmus case, the CIT had ordered CBP to provide another status update by noon on April 14, in advance of a closed conference that afternoon. A similar order in Euro-Notions was entered on April 8, signaling that CBP's development of the IEEPA refund mechanism will continue on track.

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