How to Claim an IEEPA Tariff Refund from CBP

You paid IEEPA tariffs on goods that cleared while the program was in force, the courts have since ordered the money returned, and you have been waiting for a check to arrive. It does not work that way. Customs and Border Protection pays these refunds only when the importer of record asks for them in the ACE Portal, and an entry leaves the process for good 80 days after it liquidates.

Confirm your entries are still inside the window

The CAPE process, short for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, currently takes unliquidated entries, entries within 80 days of liquidation, and entries flagged for reconciliation where no reconciliation entry has been filed. It will not take entries on an active drawback claim, entries with an open or suspended protest, duty deferral type 08 or in bond type 23 entries, reconciliation type 09 entries already filed, entries under a court injunction, or anything liquidated more than 80 days ago. You do not need a case at the Court of International Trade to be paid on an eligible entry.

Get an ACE Portal importer account

Declarations are filed from the web based ACE Secure Data Portal, not by mail or email. Your company needs a Top Account, a designated Trade Account Owner, and the Importer view of its 5106 importer record, which is the view that receives electronic refunds.

Enroll a US bank account for refunds

Treasury pays these refunds by ACH, so CBP must hold your refund bank details. This is separate from any ACH account you already use to pay CBP. Without it on file, an approved refund sits unpaid until you add it.

Fix non-IEEPA problems before you file, not after

If an entry also carries a classification or value error, file the post summary correction first. Once CBP accepts a declaration you cannot pull an entry back out of it or cancel it, and you cannot file a post summary correction or a protest while entries are in CAPE processing.

File the CAPE declaration

Sign in to the portal, open the CAPE tab, and upload your entry list as a CSV file. One declaration holds up to 9,999 entries and you may file more than one. Acceptance returns a CAPE claim number, which is your evidence the request is in the queue.

Track liquidation, then the deposit

As of September 2026 CBP says refunds are generally issued 60 to 90 days after it accepts the declaration, with the ACH deposit landing 3 to 5 weeks from the date of liquidation or reliquidation.

If an entry liquidated more than 80 days ago. CAPE will reject it today. CBP has a further phase planned for reconciliation entries and posts changes as CSMS bulletins on the refunds page, so check there before writing the entry off.

If someone offers to file the claim for you for a fee. CBP warns that scammers are soliciting importers by email, written notice and social media for company and personal details, and says it charges no fee at all to process a tariff refund.

Sources. CBP, IEEPA Duty Refunds, Trade Information Notice: CAPE, ACE Portal: CAPE Declarations and Error Definitions, Automated ACE Portal Account Application for Importers, ACE Portal: ACH Bank Information for Electronic Refunds, Fact Sheet: CAPE Refund Fraud Solicitation.