US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released details on how it will process refunds from President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, which the US Supreme Court ruled unlawful earlier this year.
Trump placed reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners on April 2, 2025 – considered “Liberation Day.” The administration justified the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 national security law that allows the president to “regulate” imports in an emergency. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court said IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
CBP will launch the first phase of the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) tool in the Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal) on April 20, 2026, which should simplify IEEPA duty refund requests.
CAPE will consolidate IEEPA dues refunds, including interest, rather than processing refunds on an item-by-item basis. CBP plans to implement CAPE in phases and will add more functionality later for more complex scenarios. CAPE Phase 1 is limited to “certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation.”
Before the Supreme Court’s ruling, thousands of U.S. companies filed complaints with the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking refunds. Some of the refund requests came from companies involved in the solar industry, including American Wire Group, Canadian Solar, GameChange Solar, Fluke, Hellermann Tyton, Kinematics, JA Solar, Jinko Solar, Longi, Merlin Solar, Qcells and Trina Solar.
CBP says those requesting IEEPA refunds must have accounts in the ACE Portal. The registered importer or authorized broker will file a CAPE declaration and then CBP will recalculate the duties due without IEEPA. The refunds would then be consolidated and released. More instructions can be found here.
