4/21/26 — CAPE Phase One IEEPA Refunds Move Forward
CAPE Phase 1 is now live in ACE for IEEPA-related refund claims, and uptake has been strong, with more than 55,000 trade users logging in on the first day and refund requests covering over 4 million entries. CAPE declarations are subject to ACE file-level validations, and once a declaration is accepted and assigned a claim number, CBP will systematically remove the applicable IEEPA Chapter 99 provisions at the entry summary level and issue duty refunds with interest under 19 U.S.C. 1505 within roughly 60-90 days. CBP has clarified that customs brokers may only submit CAPE declarations for entries that they themselves filed, though a single broker declaration may cover multiple importers of record so long as all underlying entries were broker-filed by that same filer.
CAPE Phase 1 is only a partial solution that was create to respond as quickly as possible to a court order, and does not pretend to encompass all IEEPA-paid entries. According to CBP's deployment materials, Phase 1 entries does not cover many categories. For example, CAPE will reject entry summaries that are flagged for reconciliation, the subject of a pending protest, subject to drawback refunds, or subject to a court injunctions, as well as where the entry is within a final liquidation phase, in trade control, cancelled or rejected, or otherwise suspended (e.g., ADCVD entries) or under review. In addition, Phase 1 is focused only on entries liquidated within the last 80 days.
On the April 21 webinar, CBP officials said there is currently no firm timetable for “Phase 2” of CAPE that would address these shortcomings. CBP also clarified that PSCs are not a pathway to initiate IEEPA refunds and must instead be used, if at all, before a CAPE claim—for example, to adjust a notify party.
Therefore, for entries that are rejected or are ineligible for CAPE Phase 1, importers may be forced by current timelines to pursue other traditional remedies (rather than waiting for an indefinite Phase 2 release)— such as by filing a protest under 19 U.S.C. 1514 (within 180 days of liquidation) or, where appropriate, initiating litigation at the Court of International Trade to preserve refund rights.