U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it will launch Phase 1 of its CAPE refund system on April 20, 2026, and that system is for IEEPA duty refund claims tied to court-ordered relief, not automatic payments to the general public.
Under CBP’s announcement, Importers of Record and authorized customs brokers can use the ACE Portal to submit CAPE declarations, and CBP will then recalculate duties and process consolidated refunds electronically. Phase 1 is limited to certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation, so it is not all tariff situations at once.
The broader reason this is happening is that Reuters reports the refunds relate to tariffs imposed under IEEPA that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in February 2026 as unlawful. So the practical answer is: April 20, 2026 is the start of the filing/processing system for eligible importer refunds, not the start of universal refund checks for consumers.
A company is likely covered by the April 20 refund process if it was the Importer of Record (or uses the broker that filed the entries), the affected entries include at least one IEEPA HTSUS Chapter 99 code, and the entries are in Phase 1 eligibility—that is, certain unliquidated entries or certain entries within 80 days of liquidation. CBP says CAPE is the portal for these IEEPA duty refund claims, and the filer must use an ACE Portal account with ACH refund information set up.
A company is less likely to be covered immediately on April 20 if the entry is more than 80 days past liquidation, tied to an open or suspended protest, involves drawback, reconciliation, USMCA duty deferral, certain AD/CVD pending-liquidation entries, or if a surety paid the IEEPA duties in whole or in part. CBP says those situations are rejected in Phase 1 or handled outside the straightforward CAPE flow, with later phases planned for more complicated scenarios.
As for tariff type, this refund process is tied to the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that were later struck down; it is not a general refund program for all tariffs. Reuters also noted that tariffs imposed under more traditional trade authorities were not part of that ruling, including examples such as tariffs on steel and copper under other legal authorities.
So, in practical terms: covered usually means “the importer paid now-invalid IEEPA duties on qualifying entries and can file through ACE/CAPE”
