IEEPA Tariff Updates Since the February Supreme Court Ruling

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Learning Res., Inc. v. Trump on February 20, which invalidated tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), attention has shifted to how refunds will be administered and enforced. Since that ruling, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have taken significant steps to establish the framework and process for issuing refunds, as detailed in the developments below.

March 4

The CIT entered an order written by Senior Judge Richard Eaton in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, declaring that all importers of record are entitled to refunds of the IEEPA tariffs. Refunds of IEEPA tariffs apply to both liquidated and unliquidated entries and must be paid with interest.

March 5/6

Judge Eaton suspended his refund order to allow CBP to set up a process for instituting IEEPA refunds. In a declaration to the CIT, CBP detailed the extent of the tariffs and highlighted the difficulties in adapting the current system of record for imported merchandise, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), to cope with refunds of $166 billion worth of tariffs in over 53 million entries from more than 330,000 importers of record. CBP has a stated goal of adapting ACE to handle the tariff refunds within 45 days. All importers of record should ensure that they have access to their ACE accounts and enroll in the ACE Refund Program. All CBP refunds are electronic as of February 6, 2026.

March 12

During another conference in the Atmus case, CBP filed a second declaration as to its progress with respect to IEEPA tariff refunds. CBP is in the process of adding new capabilities to ACE. It calls these capabilities Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE). CAPE consists of four parts: Claim Portal, Mass Processing, Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation, and Refund.

March 17

CIT Chief Judge Mark Barnett ordered that all IEEPA cases be reassigned to Judge Eaton.

March 19

Judge Eaton noted in an order that the parties in the Atmus case have not come to an agreement regarding the reliquidation of final liquidated entries. The refund process is also to be extended to non-IEEPA imports from Brazil and India. The CIT ordered that another status report be provided to the CIT by CBP on March 31, 2026.

March 27

The CIT issued an order that amended the March 19 order to clarify that “with respect to any and all unliquidated entries that were entered subject to IEEPA duties, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is hereby directed to liquidate those entries without regard to the IEEPA duties. Any liquidated entries for which liquidation is not final shall be reliquidated without regard to those duties. Any liquidated entries for which liquidation is final shall be reliquidated without regard to the IEEPA duties.” The order further clarified that it does not address issues related to duty-free de minimis exceptions.

March 30-April 1

In a March 30 declaration, CBP reported substantial progress in developing its ACE-based refund system, CAPE, and confirmed that refunds will be issued electronically. CBP also stated that it is expanding system capabilities and outreach efforts to facilitate claims processing.

In an April 1 order, CIT found CBP’s progress satisfactory and continued the suspension of immediate compliance with the refund directive, providing CBP with additional time to complete development and implementation of CAPE. Judge Eaton further stated that CBP is on track to meet the April 20, 2026, deadline to begin accepting CAPE declarations. The CIT ordered CBP to provide another progress update by April 14, 2026.

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