The Supreme Court ruled IEEPA tariffs unlawful. But collecting your refund requires navigating ACE portals, CBP protests, HTS codes, 180-day deadlines, and federal bureaucracy. Tariff Recoveries USA manages every step — so you don't have to touch any of it.
Collecting your IEEPA refund involves federal trade law, CBP's internal IT systems, hard legal deadlines, and mountains of customs documentation. Getting any one step wrong — or missing a single deadline — can permanently forfeit your recovery.
Refunds apply specifically to Chapter 99 IEEPA tariff add-ons buried inside your entry summaries. Identifying exactly which HTS codes qualify across hundreds or thousands of entries requires deep customs classification expertise — not a spreadsheet.
Every liquidated entry has its own 180-day clock running from its specific liquidation date. Miss any one window and that entry's refund is gone permanently. There is no extension. There is no appeal. The clock doesn't care if CAPE is delayed.
CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is a government trade system that most importers have never navigated independently. Setting up ACH refund enrollment, accessing entry status data, and filing protests all require ACE expertise that takes years to develop.
CAPE will require a precisely formatted CSV upload with entry-level data for every affected shipment — Form 7501s, payment records, country-of-origin documents, liquidation dates, and more. One formatting error can delay or invalidate your entire submission.
If you raised prices to offset tariff costs, your customers may have legal standing to claim a share of your refund. This is a real and growing litigation risk that requires legal review of your supply chain contracts before you file anything.
The government has reserved the right to appeal portions of the ruling. Legal developments can change the refund landscape overnight. Without experts monitoring the situation daily, you may miss critical changes that affect your filing strategy.
Our team of customs specialists, trade attorneys, and filing experts takes every task off your plate — from the first document review to the final ACH deposit in your account.
We pull and analyze every CBP entry summary for your company across the entire IEEPA period. We identify every qualifying HTS code, calculate your maximum refund exposure, and build a complete claim inventory — work that takes our team hours, not months of your time.
We handle your CBP ACE account setup and ACH electronic refund enrollment. You won't need to navigate government portals, look up routing numbers, or figure out which menu you need. We've done this hundreds of times. We do it right the first time.
We immediately identify all of your liquidated entries, calculate each 180-day protest deadline, and file formal protests through ACE before any window closes. This is your most critical legal protection — and the task most importers miss when going it alone.
When CBP's CAPE portal opens, we submit on day one with a fully prepared, error-free CSV declaration. No formatting errors. No missing data. No delays from a rejected file. We stay at the front of the queue for 330,000+ importers all filing at once.
Before we file anything, we review your supply chain agreements to identify any customer pass-through risk. You won't be blindsided by a legal challenge after you've received your refund. We advise on structuring so you keep what's rightfully yours.
We track every CBP court update, CAPE system status report, and government appeal filing. If the legal landscape changes — we advise you immediately and adjust your filing strategy. You don't have to read federal court dockets to protect your claim.
| Task | ✓ Tariff Recoveries USA Does This | DIY Importer |
|---|---|---|
| Pull & audit all CBP entry summaries | ✓ Fully managed | ✗ Hours of broker coordination |
| Identify qualifying IEEPA HTS codes | ✓ Expert classification review | ✗ Risk of missing entries |
| ACE portal registration & navigation | ✓ We handle all ACE access | ✗ Complex government system |
| ACH electronic refund enrollment | ✓ Completed on your behalf | ✗ Required — easy to miss |
| Track & file protests for liquidated entries | ✓ Filed before every deadline | ✗ One missed deadline = permanent loss |
| Prepare & submit CAPE CSV declaration | ✓ Day-one filing, zero errors | ✗ Format errors delay payment |
| Monitor government appeals & legal changes | ✓ Daily monitoring included | ✗ Reading federal court filings |
| Upfront cost to you | ✓ $0 — contingency only | ✗ Broker & attorney hourly fees |
Here's an honest look at what claiming a refund actually requires. We include this so you understand why the complexity justifies having experts on your side — and what we're doing on your behalf at each stage.
Only the official Importer of Record listed on your CBP entry summaries is eligible to receive a refund. If you purchased imported goods from a domestic supplier or distributor, you are generally not eligible — the IOR is who gets paid.
CBP no longer issues paper refund checks. All IEEPA refunds will be paid electronically. You must enroll in CBP's ACH (Automated Clearing House) Refund program before a refund can be issued — even if your claim is approved. This is a hard requirement.
CBP's CAPE portal will require you to upload a CSV file listing every entry on which IEEPA tariffs were paid. Having complete, accurate records before the portal launches puts you at the front of the line and reduces audit risk.
If any of your entries have already been liquidated (finalized by CBP), you must file a formal protest within 180 days of the liquidation date to keep your refund options open. Waiting for the CAPE portal alone may be too late for these entries.
Once CBP launches the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system, you or your customs broker will upload a CSV declaration listing all IEEPA-affected entries. CBP's system will automatically recalculate duties owed and schedule refund payments.
IEEPA duties may have been capitalized into inventory, expensed as cost of goods sold, or passed through in pricing. How you account for the refund matters for your financial statements, tax returns, and any downstream customer agreements.
As of March 24, 2026 — CBP's latest update to the Court of International Trade
Target Launch: ~April 20, 2026. CBP must provide another progress update to the CIT by March 31, 2026. The $166 billion in duties paid by over 330,000 importers of record is at stake. We monitor every development so you don't have to.
Pull these records now. Having them ready before CAPE launches means faster processing and a stronger claim.
Mark these dates. Missing any one of them could cost you your recovery.
Every day that passes, protest deadlines get closer and interest accrues. Our team takes the entire refund process off your plate — no upfront cost, no hourly fees, no risk. You get paid, and we get paid when you do.