CAPE Has Arrived: A Guide To Navigating The Next Phase Of IEEPA Duty Refunds

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Highlights

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched Phase 1 of its Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) tool on April 20, 2026, to process International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duty refunds.
Phase 1 is expected to cover approximately 63 percent of affected entries and is generally limited to unliquidated entries and those liquidated within the prior 80 days. More complex scenarios will be addressed in later phases.
This Holland & Knight alert summarizes Phase 1 eligibility, outlines CAPE filing mechanics and timelines, and highlights practical steps importers should take now to timely secure refunds.

Pursuant to judicial orders in Atmus Filtration v. United States¹ and Euro Nations Florida Inc. v. United States, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been directed to refund all duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In response, CBP launched Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) – a new mechanism within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) – to streamline refund processing. Phase 1 went live on April 20, 2026.

What Is CAPE, and How Does It Work?

To manage the significant volume of IEEPA refunds, CBP developed CAPE as a new functionality within the ACE platform. Rather than handling refunds entry by entry, CAPE allows importers of record (IOR) or their licensed customs brokers to submit a single "CAPE Declaration" covering thousands of entries. CBP then recalculates the duties, performs liquidation or reliquidation as appropriate, and issues a consolidated refund with interest.

Phase 1 Eligibility

Phase 1 is estimated to cover approximately 63 percent of entries for which IEEPA duties were paid or deposited.

CAPE Phase 1 will review, process and refund:

unliquidated entries
entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days, which remain within the 90-day voluntary reliquidation window under 19 U.S.C. Section 1501

CAPE Phase 1 will accept, but not immediately process, refund and liquidate:

entries with a liquidation status of "Suspended," "Extended" or "Under Review"
warehouse and warehouse withdrawal entries

CAPE Phase 1 will not process or accept:

entries for which liquidation is final
entries flagged for reconciliation, Entry Type 09 (Reconciliation Summary)
entries with open or suspended protests
antidumping and countervailing duties entries pending liquidation where the U.S. Department of Commerce has issued liquidation instructions
entries not filed in ACE or without a liquidation status in ACE
entries covered by an open drawback claim

CBP intends to address finally liquidated entries in future phases but has not provided a timeline.

CAPE Process Stages

Submission and Validation: The process begins with the IOR or broker that originally filed the entry summaries submitting a CAPE Declaration through the ACE portal. The CAPE Declaration consists of the list of entries for which refunds of IEEPA duties are being requested. Before uploading, the filer must download the CAPE upload template from the ACE portal, enter the applicable entry numbers in the template and save the file in comma-separated values (CSV) format. The filer then acknowledges a certification that they are legally authorized to make the filing and uploads the completed file. Each inpidual CAPE Declaration has a limit of 9,999 entries; however, IORs and brokers can file multiple CAPE Declarations. Upon uploading, the system will display a progress bar and, if successful, a confirmation message.
Mass Processing: Once accepted, CBP removes the IEEPA tariff lines from each entry, recalculates duties as if IEEPA had never applied and adds interest pursuant to 19 U.S.C. Section 1505(c) – running from the date of original duty payment through the date of liquidation or reliquidation. For the quarter beginning January 1, 2026, the applicable overpayment interest rate is 7 percent (noncorporate) and 6 percent (corporate).
Liquidation and Reliquidation: CBP estimates that unliquidated entries will liquidate 45 days after CAPE acceptance; entries already liquidated but not yet final are reliquidated the next business day. Entries with a status of suspended, extended or under review, as well as warehouse entries, liquidate in the normal course.
Refund Issuance: CBP issues a single consolidated lump-sum refund per IOR (or Form 4811 designee) via Automated Clearing House (ACH) – i.e., electronic refund – to the designated bank account. Refunds are expected within 60 to 90 days of CAPE Declaration acceptance. If no issues are identified, CBP expects "acceptance" to take approximately 10 days. Thus, refunds can be expected approximately 70 to 100 days after submission.

Key Strategic Considerations

Importers should be aware of several important strategic and procedural considerations when pursuing IEEPA refunds through CAPE:

Protests. If a protest was filed solely to recover IEEPA duties, it may be withdrawn within 80 days of liquidation, and the entry can then be submitted via CAPE for potentially faster processing. However, if a protest raises broader issues beyond the IEEPA duty recovery, importers should carefully consider whether to keep the protest in place, because Phase 1 will not accept or process entries with an active protest.
Post Summary Corrections. Post Summary Corrections may not be used to request IEEPA refunds. However, any unrelated corrections to entry summaries should be completed before submitting a CAPE Declaration.
Drawback. CBP recommends submitting CAPE claims before filing drawback claims to avoid conflicts or processing delays.
Third Parties and Refund Designations. Only the IOR or filing broker may submit CAPE Declarations, and refunds are issued by CBP to the party on record for the entry. Though CBP Form 4811 (filed at the time of entry) may direct where a refund is sent, it does not transfer ownership of the refund. Any third-party recovery must be handled through private arrangements with the IOR.

Recommended Next Steps

Importers should take the following actions promptly in order to file for CAPE refund recovery:

Confirm ACE Portal Access. Ensure that your team and/or customs broker has active ACE portal login credentials. CAPE Declarations must be submitted directly through ACE and, without portal access, you cannot file a claim. In the ACE portal account, look for the new CAPE tab.
Register ACH Payment Details with CBP. If your ACE portal account does not have current ACH bank account information on file, CBP will hold your refund until that information is provided.
Prepare and Submit Entry Data. Identify entries eligible for Phase 1 and compile entry summary data in CSV format for all potentially eligible entries. Limit this effort to unliquidated entries with IEEPA duty payments or deposits and all entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days that remain within the 90-day voluntary reliquidation window under 19 U.S.C. Section 1501.
Flag Entries with Final Liquidation. These entries are expected to be addressed in later CAPE phases; however, importers should continue to closely monitor applicable protest deadlines.
Review Protest Strategy. Identify entries with existing or suspended protests and determine whether to withdraw and refile via CAPE or keep the protest in place where broader issues are at stake.
Confirm Phase 1 Eligibility and Flag Exclusions. Review your entry portfolio against the Phase 1 exclusions – including entries flagged for reconciliation, designated on a drawback claim or covered by an open protest – to confirm which entries are eligible for submission. Finally, liquidated entries are expected to be addressed in later CAPE phases, and importers should also continue to closely monitor applicable protest deadlines.

Remaining Open Questions

Although the CAPE system represents a significant step forward for importers, Phase 1 leaves a substantial subset of entries unresolved – most notably, those liquidated more than 80 days ago (i.e., prior to January 30, 2026). As recently as April 1, 2026, U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton observed that "no resolution has been reached with respect to the reliquidation, by way of CAPE, of entries for which liquidation has become final," and reminded importers to remain mindful of the remedies available under 19 U.S.C. Section 1514, which governs protests.

At the same time, CBP has indicated that future phases of CAPE are intended to address these "finally liquidated" entries, along with other categories of currently ineligible entries. To date, CBP has not provided any timeline for the rollout of those additional phases.

In light of this uncertainty, importers should carefully evaluate whether filing protests for currently ineligible entries is appropriate, particularly where applicable protest deadlines are approaching. That evaluation should also take into account the possibility that any such protests may ultimately need to be withdrawn if subsequent CAPE phases provide an administrative pathway for relief.

Importers should consider whether filing a protective action in the Court of International Trade is warranted for entries that are "finally liquidated" – including those for which the protest period has expired or is nearing expiration – bearing in mind the two‑year statute of limitations applicable to such actions.

Additional Resources

For additional information about ACE portal access and ACH refunds, visit CBP's resources below.

Footnote

1. The Atmus Filtration case has since been dismissed, but Euro‑Nations Florida Inc. and the rulings issued in that matter remain in effect.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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