IEEPA Tariff Refund Portal: Progress Made, But No Resolution Yet

As of March 11, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported partial progress on its IEEPA tariff refund system to the Court of International Trade (CIT). While development is underway, the refund portal is not yet open and no refunds have been issued. Here is what importers and brokers need to know.

What Is CAPE?

CBP is developing a four-component refund processing system called CAPE — the CBP Automated Processing Environment. Once fully operational, CAPE will allow importers and licensed customs brokers to submit IEEPA tariff refund requests directly through the ACE Portal. A new tab will appear in both importer and broker ACE accounts when the portal goes live.

Where Things Stand: Development Progress as of March 11, 2026

CAPE is built on four integrated components. Here is where each one stands:

• Claim Portal (~70% complete): The web-based entry point where refund requests are submitted and validated. The user interface is built, but automated validation programming and error notification are still under development.

• Mass Processing (~40% complete): Automatically removes applicable IEEPA HTS numbers from validated entry summaries. CBP's current focus is on the automated entry summary update process — this component is less than halfway done.

• Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation (Partial): Initiates the review process for entries identified in accepted CAPE declarations. Initial integration work has begun, but additional development and performance testing remain.

• Refund Consolidation (Early Stage): The final step that processes and issues actual refund payments. This component is still in early development and is not yet integrated with the others.

What This Means for You and What Remains Pending

1. The portal has no announced opening date — no submission window is available yet.

2. Full system integration and testing across all four components has not yet occurred.

3. Certain entry types are excluded from Phase 1, including unliquidated entries, warehouse withdrawals, and entries tied to drawback claims.

4. CBP has not yet released detailed guidance on entry eligibility, scope, or functionality by phase.

At this time, no action is required or available on your end. The portal is not open and no submissions can be made. We are actively monitoring all CBP and CIT developments and will notify you as soon as the portal launches or official guidance is released. When eligibility details become available, we will advise you on which of your entries qualify and walk you through the process.