CBP Updates Court on IEEPA Refund Process and Technology

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Mar. 12, 2026
By: Marvin E. McPherson

In Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, DOJ provided an update on behalf of CBP regarding the IEEPA refunds. The updates reflects development of the new ACE functionality announced in their March 6, 2026, proposal, the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (“CAPE”) system.

CAPE will be used to automate the administration, review, and processing of refund requests for entries on which IEEPA duties were previously paid. CBP has indicated that it has structured the system around four integrated components:

1. Claim Portal

The first stage of CAPE will be the Claim Portal, a web-based interface located within the ACE Portal. Notably, CBP has confirmed that filings for CAPE claims will not occur through the Automated Broker Interface (“ABI”). Instead, filers will upload a CSV file identifying the entry summaries for which refunds are requested.

Once submitted, Customs has indicated that ACE will conduct two tiers of automated validation. The first set of checks, referred to as file validations, are intended to confirm that the submission contains all required data, that the information is properly formatted, that the submitter is the importer of record (“IOR”) or an authorized broker acting on behalf of the IOR. If the submission fails any of these file validation requirements, the CAPE Declaration will be rejected.

The second check is entry-specific validations. ACE will confirm that each entry summary listed in the CSV file exists in ACE and that at least one IEEPA-related HTS Chapter 99 number was declared on the entry. If an individual entry fails validation, that entry will be removed from the CAPE Declaration while the remaining entries continue to process. CBP reports that development of the Claim Portal component is approximately 70% complete.

2.      Mass Processing

The second component is intended to perform the automated recalculation of duties for validated entries. Once a CAPE Declaration passes the Claim Portal validation process, the Mass Processing system will remove any applicable IEEPA HTS numbers from the entry summaries. The system will then run ACE’s standard duty calculation validations, which are part of the existing entry summary review process. CBP estimates that the Mass Processing component is approximately 40% complete.

3.      Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation

Following acceptance of a CAPE Declaration, the entries are intended to move to the Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation component. This module initiates the formal liquidation or reliquidation process for the entries identified in the claim. CBP reports that development of this component is approximately 80% complete.

4.      Refund Processing

The final stage of CAPE is to be the Refund component. Once entries reach their scheduled liquidation or reliquidation date, ACE will direct them to a CAPE-specific refund process within the ACE Collections refunds module. CBP estimates that the Refund component is approximately 60% complete.

This update leaves open many of the same questions that existed before the update. By tying the process to entries to be liquidated or re-liquidated it leaves open the question of entries outside the range of those Customs is able to voluntarily re-liquidate. This is particularly important if there are delays between uploading data and validation of the data. Importers would do well to be mindful of the laws as they relate to liquidation and finality even as this process is in operation. It is entirely possible that claims could become time-barred during the process and fail the Customs validation for that reason, absent action by the importer.

We will continue to follow the refund procedures and case status. If you have any questions regarding the best course of action for your company, Contact any attorney  at Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, LLP.