3/11/26 — Five Days of Silence: Will the Administration Appeal the IEEPA Refund Order?

It has now been five days since the March 6 status conference before Judge Eaton at the Court of International Trade, and the Trump Administration has offered no public indication of whether it plans to appeal the court's order directing CBP to refund all IEEPA tariffs, or whether it will seek rehearing at the Supreme Court.

The silence is striking given President Trump's own public statements on the matter. Trump has indicated he is prepared to litigate the IEEPA tariff issue "for years" if necessary, and has specifically expressed his desire for a rehearing before the Supreme Court following the Court's ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that struck down the tariffs. These comments suggest the Administration has not accepted the finality of the Supreme Court's decision, even as CBP works to comply with Judge Eaton's refund order.

The stakes for importers could not be higher. If the Administration were to file an appeal of Judge Eaton's order to the Federal Circuit, or seek rehearing at the Supreme Court, it could potentially derail the entire refund process that CBP is currently building. An appeal could result in a stay of the refund order, freezing the 45-day timeline CBP laid out in its March 6 declaration.

Perhaps most critically, any significant delay caused by an appeal would risk pushing liquidated entries past their protest deadlines. Under customs law, importers generally have 180 days from the date of liquidation to file a protest. If the refund process is stalled by litigation while the clock continues to run on those deadlines, importers who have not already taken protective action could lose their right to recover duties that were collected unlawfully.

Importers who have not yet filed a protective action at the CIT or a protest with CBP should seriously consider doing so now, rather than waiting for the Administration to reveal its hand.