CAPE Phase II Is Live: Most IEEPA Duties Are Now Refund-Eligible — Here’s How To Claim Yours

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• As of June 29, 2026, CBP’s CAPE system reached Phase II — enhanced processing for reconciliation-flagged entries, making the large majority of IEEPA duties eligible for refund. 
• Refunds are not automatic for every entry type. Eligibility, filing method, and ACH enrollment all matter — and finally, liquidated entries are treated differently depending on whether you filed a CIT lawsuit. 
• The window rewards speed and documentation. Importers who reconcile their IEEPA-dutied entries now will recover capital sooner; those who wait risk falling into later, slower phases. 

Tariff Refunds – a Moving Target 

If your business paid duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), you have likely been watching a moving target: litigation over whether those duties were lawfully collected, a refund mechanism built in phases, and shifting guidance on which entries qualify and when. The result is paralysis — many importers know money may be owed back to them, but cannot tell whether, how, or when to claim it. 

That uncertainty has a real cost. Every month, a refund-eligible entry that sits unaddressed, working capital tied up at CBP rather than in your business. And because the refund framework is being rolled out in stages, the entries you can act on today are not the same as the ones you will be able to act on next month — sequencing matters. 

CAPE Phase II Now Open 

CBP is processing IEEPA duty refunds through CAPE — the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries functionality within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). CAPE is being deployed in phases. We walked through the Phase I mechanics — the CAPE Declaration, the 80-day liquidation window, and the 45-to-90-day refund timeline — in our earlier overview, The CAPE Refund Process – An Updated Overview. The Phase II milestone reached on June 29, 2026, adds enhanced capability for reconciliation-flagged entries, which expands the universe of refund-eligible IEEPA duties to the large majority of what was collected. 

Subsequent phases are expected to expand coverage further, including, in a later phase, finally liquidated entries for importers who filed lawsuits at the Court of International Trade. As we have explained in IEEPA Tariff Refunds Likely Not Automatic, the litigation posture matters: CBP has indicated it does not currently intend to refund finally-liquidated entries for non-plaintiffs while the broader reliquidation order remains on appeal, but has stated it will comply with any final court order. Categories such as drawback entries, certain reconciliation entries, entries under administrative protest, and entries not filed in ACE are anticipated in still-later phases. For the running litigation and CAPE timeline, see our IEEPA Tariff Refund Updates. 

For the authoritative, current eligibility rules, filing steps, and ACH enrollment requirements, consult CBP’s IEEPA Duty Refunds page directly — the phase schedule and eligibility criteria remain subject to change as the litigation proceeds. 

The Strategy for Importers

Treat this as a structured recovery project, not a single filing: 

• Inventory your IEEPA-dutied entries. Pull your entry data and identify every entry that carried an IEEPA duty, with the duty amount and liquidation status for each. 
• Segment by entry status. Reconciliation-flagged and unliquidated entries are addressable now under Phase II. Finally, liquidated entries depend on your litigation posture and a later phase — know which bucket each entry falls in. 
• Confirm ACH enrollment. Refunds flow through CBP’s electronic process; enrollment is a prerequisite, not an afterthought. 
• File accurately the first time. A valid, well-documented refund request moves faster than one CBP has to question. The documentation discipline that protects you in an audit is the same discipline that accelerates a refund. 
• Calendar the later phases. If some of your entries are not yet eligible, track when their phase opens so they are not forgotten. 

The Outcome 

Importers who approach the CAPE methodically — inventory, segment, enroll, file — stand to recover a meaningful share of IEEPA duties sooner and with fewer CBP queries than those who file piecemeal or wait for the program to “settle.” The program is unlikely to get simpler as more entry types enter the queue; the earliest, cleanest filings are positioned best. 

Diaz Trade Law is helping importers map their IEEPA exposure, determine which entries are refund-eligible today, and file through CAPE. If you paid IEEPA duties and have not yet assessed your refund position, the time to do it is now — before the next phase adds volume to the system. 

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.