A Court Update on IEEPA Duty Refunds: Why Filing at the CIT Now Matters

If you paid duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a new development with the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) could change how quickly you see your money back.

At a July 14 closed conference, the court reviewed progress on Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) program, the system now processing IEEPA refunds. The numbers are significant. Roughly $121.75 billion in potential and certified refunds have been accepted for processing, and about $86.3 billion in duties plus interest has already gone to the U.S. Treasury for disbursement. The court did flag one snag: nearly 9,900 refunds are stuck because importers haven't provided their Automated Clearing House (ACH) banking details. If that's you, get that information updated in ACE so your payment can move.

Here's the part worth your attention: As CAPE moves into Phase 3, scheduled to deploy at the end of the month, the court plans to issue an order in the upcoming weeks directing CBP to reliquidate certain finally liquidated entries, currently ineligible for Phase 1 and Phase 2. That order will only apply to the roughly 3,700 IEEPA cases currently before the court. In other words, the importers positioned to recover duties on finally liquidated entries are the ones who filed suit.

What does this mean for you? If you have finally liquidated IEEPA entries and want the fastest, most reliable path to a refund, filing a case at the CIT is worth consideration. Refund timelines and eligibility hinge on the specifics of your entries, so this is a decision to make with your customs counsel rather than on a general rule of thumb.
You don't have to sort through it alone. Flexport's customs and trade advisory team can help you review your IEEPA entries, understand where they stand, and coordinate with legal counsel on next steps. We've recovered more than $1 billion in refunds and tariff savings for our clients over the past five years, and we're tracking this litigation closely as the court's next report lands in early August.

Want us to review your IEEPA exposure? Reach out to your Flexport account team and we'll take it from there.