CBP Refund System Goes Live

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) went live on April 20 with its automated tariff refund system. Phase 1 of the Consolidated Administrative and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system allows the importer of record (IOR) or customs brokers to upload a detailed list of the tariffs paid under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), which the Supreme Court ruled were unlawful.

In this first phase, CBP will process only unliquidated entries and those within 80 days of liquidation. CBP has indicated that there will be additional phases, including for “entries not filed in ACE, and entries without a liquidation status in ACE,” which presumably would include postal shipments. However, CBP has not yet set deployment dates for future phases and has only indicated that it is in the planning process for Phase 2. 

In March, U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) Judge Richard Eaton ordered the government to stop charging the tariffs and establish a refund system. CBP developed CAPE in about six weeks’ time to process the refunds for importers and customs brokers who paid IEEPA duties.

On recent “user readiness” webinars, CBP has stressed that only IORs or their authorized brokers may submit CAPE declarations. In addition, the broker who files for a refund has to be the broker who filed the underlying entry. CBP expects refunds to be issued within 60-90 days and the interest rate will be calculated as it does now for refunds (beginning from the date of payment to date of liquidation).

CBP has a number of resources and guidance on seeking IEEPA refunds on a dedicated section of its website.