Customs Proposes IEEPA Refund Process to Court

Mar. 6, 2026
By: David G. Forgue

On Friday, March 6 the Department of Justice presented on behalf of Customs a proposal to handle IEEPA refunds. While it is not clear whether the Court will be satisfied with the proposed refund plan, importers would be wise to take the steps necessary to meet the outlines of the plan. Regular readers will recognize these steps, since we have been recommending them for weeks.

First, Customs makes it clear that it cannot comply with the current court order to liquidate entries now without respect to IEEPA. In other words, don’t expect refunds with today’s liquidations. This is true for a variety of technical reasons. Therefore, Customs is proposing to create a new functionality in ACE for this purpose. The elements would be:

• Each importer (i.e. IOR) files a declaration in ACE that includes a complete list of entries on which IEEPA duties were paid
• ACE validates that each entry has IEEPA duties and recalculates the entry without IEEPA
• CBP verifies (as soon as practicable, which is legalese for “eventually”) the refund and interest for processing
• ACE then finalizes (liquidates or reliquidates, per the proposal) the entries
• CBP then certifies the refunds
• Treasury electronically transfers refunds and interest to the importer
• Customs believes it can create the infrastructure for this within 45 days

There are some important details that will still need to be worked out. Not the least of which is the treatment of entries that liquidated more than 90 days ago (and so are no longer open to Customs voluntary action, but are still able to be captured in a court case), as well as how importers should deal with normal protest issues in the ordinary course.

However, there are several things you can do today. First, ensure you are able to receive electronic refunds from Treasury. Second, start reviewing your trade data to understand what your claim would look like in this system. We have some good ideas on this front. Call us. Third, don’t start counting your money, since “as soon as practicable” is not “soon.” Fourth, focus your energy on the steps above. Court cases, protests, and PSCs are all unlikely to be needed in the immediate future in this proposal or one similar is accepted. Get your ducks in a row instead.

Importers needing assistance in preparing for the proposed process, or something similar should contact any attorney at Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, LLP.