On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. In a 6–3 decision, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that IEEPA's text "contains no reference to tariffs or duties" - meaning all tariffs imposed solely under IEEPA authority were collected without a valid legal basis.
The result: U.S. importers who paid IEEPA duties throughout 2025 and into 2026 may be entitled to a refund. Customs and Border Protection data suggests approximately $142–160 billion in IEEPA tariffs were collected during this period.
But reclaiming those funds requires action - and specific deadlines are already running. Here is what you need to know.
IEEPA gives the President broad authority to regulate economic transactions during declared national emergencies. Beginning in early 2025, the Trump administration layered a sweeping new set of tariffs on top of the existing U.S. trade remedy structure, including:
These duties appeared on customs entries under HTSUS Chapter 99 headings such as 9903.01.20, 9903.01.24, and 9903.01.33, stacked on top of existing Section 301, Section 232, and other trade remedy duties.
The Ruling. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, concluded that "IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs," because the statute does not reference tariff authority. The Court applied the "major questions" doctrine, holding that congressional authorization for a power of this economic magnitude must be explicit.
Procedural Background.
Immediate Consequence. Within hours of the February 20, 2026 ruling, the White House issued a presidential action ending all IEEPA tariff orders, confirming these duties "shall no longer be in effect." Holland & Knight and Ropes & Gray have published detailed importer implications.
The Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system is CBP's new functionality inside ACE, built specifically to process IEEPA tariff refund claims at scale. Phase 1 goes live on April 20, 2026.
Key facts every importer needs to know:
CAPE is a significant upgrade over the protest process, but it is not automatic. Importers must still identify eligible entries, prepare accurate data, and file declarations within narrow timing windows. Norton Rose Fulbright has a comprehensive walkthrough of CBP's procedural instructions.
Refundable through CAPE. Only duties whose sole legal basis was IEEPA qualify for recovery. These appear on entry summaries under HTSUS Chapter 99 codes in the 9903.01.xx range.
Not refundable (still in effect):
Practical reality. Many importers, particularly those sourcing from China, face stacked tariff structures. A single shipment may carry Section 301 duties and IEEPA duties. Only the IEEPA component is refundable. For importers whose products were subject solely to IEEPA tariffs, without a Section 301 or 232 overlay, the refund opportunity per entry is proportionally larger.
Basic criteria. Any U.S. importer of record who paid IEEPA-specific duties between early 2025 and February 20, 2026 may qualify. Eligibility is not restricted by industry, company size, or product type.
You likely qualify if:
Fastest confirmation. Pull ACE Entry Summary data for the period and filter for IEEPA-specific HTS duty lines. Your broker can help, but the data lives in ACE and is yours to analyze.
The deadline landscape is no longer a single cliff. It is a sequence of timing gates, and each entry falls into one of them.
Filing Path
Applies To
Deadline
Unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within 80 days before the CAPE filing date
Submit through ACE on a rolling basis from April 20, 2026
Formal Protest (CBP Form 19)
Entries liquidated more than 80 days before filing
Within 180 days of liquidation
CIT Lawsuit
Entries where the protest was denied
Within 2 years of protest denial
Important nuances:
Critical warning. Waiting for "comprehensive CBP guidance" before acting is the most expensive mistake importers continue to make. Protest and CIT deadlines operate regardless of CAPE rollout. If a window closes, the refund right is permanently forfeited, even in the face of a favorable Supreme Court ruling.
Based on CBP's Information Notice and trade counsel guidance, the workflow is as follows.
Step 1: Confirm ACE Portal access and ACH refund enrollment. The IOR must have an established ACE Secure Data Portal account (Form 5106). A refund-specific ACH bank account must be enrolled in ACE. This is a separate enrollment from the ACH account used to pay duties; without it, CBP will hold the refund.
Step 2: Identify eligible entries. Pull ACE entry summary data and isolate entries with IEEPA Chapter 99 lines. Confirm which are unliquidated or within the 80-day post-liquidation window.
Step 3: Prepare the declaration dataset. CAPE Declarations are submitted through ACE as a CSV file containing entry numbers tied to IEEPA duties. Brokers can include up to 9,999 entries on a single declaration, spanning multiple IORs they filed on behalf of.
Step 4: Submit the CAPE Declaration. Either the IOR or the broker who filed the entry submits through the ACE Portal.
Step 5: CBP validates and either accepts or rejects each entry based on predefined criteria. Rejected entries can be corrected and resubmitted.
Step 6: ACE removes the IEEPA provision. CBP removes the IEEPA HTSUS Chapter 99 line and the corresponding duties, then liquidates or reliquidates the entry.
Step 7: Refunds process. CBP consolidates refunds by recipient and liquidation date, and targets 60 to 90 days from acceptance for ACH payment, absent compliance concerns.
Clean, centralized data is the difference between recovering the full refund and leaving money unrecompensed. Start here.
Customs entry data:
Liquidation tracker:
Banking and authorization:
SKU and COGS linkages:
Immediate action. Pull ACE entry data for February 2025 through February 2026, identify all entries with IEEPA Chapter 99 codes, map liquidation status, and flag entries that are either unliquidated or within 80 days of liquidation. Those are your Phase 1 CAPE candidates.
These are legally distinct programs that frequently apply to the same companies. Confusing them costs money.
IEEPA refunds exist because the Supreme Court invalidated the legal authority for the duties. The refund path is the CAPE system (or protest or CIT litigation). Refunds are owed whether or not the goods were ever exported.
Duty drawback is a long-standing U.S. program (established in 1789) that refunds up to 99 percent of import duties when goods are subsequently exported, destroyed, or used in qualifying manufacturing. Drawback operates under separate rules, timelines, and documentation requirements.
Where they intersect. Entries eligible for both IEEPA refunds and duty drawback are exceptionally high-value opportunities. The goal is to capture both refund paths without double-counting the same duty dollars. Both reduce duty expense on the P&L, but they differ in timing, certainty, and documentation.
Strategic coordination. Companies with meaningful export volume should sequence IEEPA CAPE claims and drawback claims together. Pursue both in parallel, not one after the other.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration issued a new tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a 10 percent surcharge on goods from all countries, effective February 24, 2026, for 150 days (through approximately July 24, 2026).
Section 122 is a different statute than IEEPA and is not affected by the Learning Resources ruling. As Covington & Burling and Wiley note, this new tariff does not retroactively reduce your IEEPA refund claim. It does mean most importers will continue paying a baseline tariff layer going forward, which makes capturing the IEEPA refund and optimizing duty drawback more important, not less.
Recovery depends on three variables:
CBP data suggests the government collected roughly $142 to $160 billion in IEEPA duties during the period. Individual importers with significant exposure, particularly from China, Canada, Mexico, or countries where IEEPA was the primary tariff layer, can recover six-figure to eight-figure amounts.
Quick assessment method. Run an entry-level exposure analysis on actual ACE data to produce a company-specific number you can take to finance and legal.
Caspian is built for the exact moment when regulatory change outpaces manual exposure recomputation.
What we do for IEEPA and CAPE claims:
Our offer. A no-obligation IEEPA and CAPE exposure assessment on a sample of your entry data, delivered as a client-ready summary for finance, trade counsel, or outside advisors.
The IEEPA refund landscape is moving fast. CAPE Phase 1 is live, Phase 2 guidance is expected, CIT proceedings continue, and the Section 122 clock is ticking. Caspian monitors CBP guidance, CAPE updates, and executive actions in real time so your team can focus on recovery rather than rule-watching.
Request your free IEEPA and CAPE exposure assessment →
Is CAPE the only way to file an IEEPA refund? For entries that fall within Phase 1 scope (unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation), yes. Entries outside that window still rely on formal protests or CIT litigation.
Can I still file a PSC for IEEPA refunds? No. CBP has confirmed that PSCs cannot be used to request IEEPA refunds. CAPE replaces the PSC pathway for these claims.
How long do refunds take? CBP targets 60 to 90 days from acceptance of the CAPE Declaration, subject to compliance review.
What if my ACH information is out of date? CBP will hold the refund until a refund-specific ACH bank account is enrolled in the ACE Portal. The ACH account you use to pay duties is not automatically used for refunds. Verify refund-side ACH enrollment before filing.
Can my broker file for multiple importers at once? Yes. A single CAPE Declaration can include up to 9,999 entries across multiple IORs, provided the broker filed the original entries.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Trade law is fact-specific and moves quickly. Consult qualified customs counsel for guidance on specific situations.
Primary sources (U.S. Customs and Border Protection):
Supreme Court and government:
Leading law firm analysis:
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