6/2/26 — DOJ Notifies Court It Will Appeal CIT's Universal IEEPA Refund Order

On May 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice formally notified the Court of International Trade (CIT) that it intends to appeal Judge Richard Eaton's universal IEEPA refund order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The DOJ's filing also signaled that it will appeal the related order requiring CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott to appear personally before the court, and that it will seek mandamus relief from the Federal Circuit if its motion to substitute another official is denied.

The DOJ's principal argument, previewed in its May 29 filing and echoed in CBP's contemporaneous motion to amend, is that the CIT exceeded both its jurisdiction and its equitable authority when it directed CBP to reliquidate and refund IEEPA duties on finally liquidated entries belonging to importers who never filed suit. Relying heavily on the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. CASA, the government contends that a single CIT judge cannot grant universal relief to non-parties, and that any importer seeking a refund on a finally liquidated entry must obtain an importer-specific judgment under 28 U.S.C. 1581(i). The government has indicated it will seek a stay of the universal injunction pending appeal, except as applied to the named plaintiffs in each case.

As a result of the appeal, it is possible that U.S. Customs could take the position that it is obligated to stop processing CAPE refund requests.

For importers, who have already obtained all refund needed via CAPE refunds, there may be nothing further to do at this time.

For all other importers seeking IEEPA tariff refunds who have not already filed a litigation action, this appeal could represent yet another reason to consider promptly filing a litigation claim.