The Government Owes Your Business Money: How Small Businesses Can Claim Their IEEPA Tariff Refund
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
A practical guide for Pennsylvania importers and small business owners navigating the new CAPE portal and claiming their share of up to $166 billion in unlawfully collected tariffs.
Key Facts
Portal launched: April 20, 2026 at 8:00 AM EST
Total owed to U.S. importers: Up to $166 billion + interest
Who can claim: Importers of Record (IORs) and their licensed customs brokers
How to claim: Through the CAPE tool inside CBP's ACE Secure Data Portal
Payment timeline: 60–90 days after claim acceptance, paid by ACH
Phase 1 deadline risk: Entries liquidated more than 80 days ago may be excluded from Phase
What Happened? The Supreme Court Ruling That Changed Everything
If your Pennsylvania business imported goods between approximately February 2025 and February 2026, you may have paid tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court has since declared unconstitutional—and the federal government is now required to give that money back.
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the tariffs President Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) exceeded the President’s legal authority. Congress—not the President—holds the constitutional power to set import tax rates, and the IEEPA did not grant the executive branch authority to impose tariffs by declaring a trade deficit a national emergency.
The U.S. Court of International Trade subsequently ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to refund the unlawfully collected duties, along with statutory interest. On April 20, 2026, CBP launched the online claims portal—known as CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries)—to begin processing those refunds.
The numbers are significant. Over 330,000 U.S. importers paid these tariffs across 53 million shipments. CBP estimates total refunds—including interest—could reach $166 billion or more. This is not a routine administrative program; it is a court-ordered refund of taxes the government was not legally entitled to collect.
Is Your Business Eligible? Understanding Who Can File a Claim
Eligibility hinges on a specific legal status: you must be the Importer of Record (IOR) for the shipments in question, or a licensed customs broker who filed the customs entry on the IOR’s behalf. Here is what that means in practice for small business owners:
You Are Likely Eligible If:
Your business is listed as the Importer of Record on customs entry summaries (CBP Form 7501) for shipments of imported goods.
Those shipments were subject to IEEPA tariffs—identifiable by Harmonized Tariff Schedule Chapter 99 codes beginning with 9903.01 or 9903.02 on your entry documentation.
The relevant customs entries are either still unliquidated (the duties have not been finalized by CBP) or were liquidated within the preceding 80 days.
You have, or can establish, an account in CBP’s ACE Secure Data Portal.
Important Limitations to Understand:
Consumers cannot file directly. Only businesses that were the actual importer of record—the entity that legally cleared the goods through U.S. Customs—are eligible. If you purchased goods domestically from another company that imported them, you are not the IOR and cannot file through CAPE.
Not all tariffs are included. The CAPE refund program covers only IEEPA-based tariffs. It does not cover Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum, Section 301 duties on Chinese goods, or Section 122 tariffs. Review your entry documents carefully to determine which tariff codes apply.
Phase 1 excludes certain complex entries. Warehouse entries, entries subject to antidumping or countervailing duties awaiting liquidation instructions, entries flagged for reconciliation, and entries where a surety—rather than your business—paid the duties are not included in Phase 1. CBP has indicated additional phases will address these categories.
If you used a licensed customs broker to handle your imports—as many small businesses do—contact that broker immediately. They can access your entry history through ACE and identify exactly which shipments qualify.
How to File Your Claim: A Step-by-Step Guide to the CAPE Portal
The CAPE system operates entirely within CBP’s existing Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal. It is not a separate consumer-facing website.
Here is the process:
Establish an ACE Secure Data Portal Account: If your business does not already have an ACE Portal account, you must register by submitting CBP Form 5106 (Importer ID Input Record). If you already have an account, verify that it is active and that you have the “Importer” sub-account enabled, as this is required to complete the ACH banking setup.
Enroll Your Bank Account for ACH Electronic Payment: All refunds are issued electronically via Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer. CBP will not issue a paper check, and it will not release funds to you until valid banking information is on file. This is a separate setup from any ACH enrollment you may have for paying duties—you must specifically enroll a bank account designated for refunds through the ACE Portal. If your ACH information is not on file, your refund will be held until it is provided.
Compile Your List of Eligible Entry Numbers: Pull your customs entry records for shipments made during the IEEPA tariff period (approximately February 4, 2025 through February 23, 2026). Identify which entries have IEEPA-specific HTS Chapter 99 codes on the entry summary. Your customs broker can pull this data directly from ACE. Organize entry numbers that are unliquidated or were liquidated within the past 80 days.
Access the CAPE Tab in the ACE Portal: Log into your ACE account and navigate to the CAPE tab. If you do not see it immediately, check under the “More” tab for additional options. The CAPE tab is available in Importer, Organizational Broker, and Filer sub-accounts.
Download the Template and Upload Your CAPE Declaration: Within the CAPE tab, select “Upload” and download the CAPE Upload Template (a CSV/Excel file). Enter your eligible entry numbers in the first column. Each CAPE Declaration can include up to 9,999 entry numbers; you may file multiple Declarations if needed. Only entry numbers are required—no additional documentation is required at this stage.
Submit and Await Validation: CBP will run a two-round validation process: first at the Declaration level, then at the individual entry level. Rejected entries will generate error messages. Accuracy matters here—formatting errors or incorrect ACH banking information will delay or prevent payment. Accepted entries receive a unique CAPE claim number.
Receive Your Refund via ACH: Once your Declaration is accepted, CBP will recalculate the duties on your entries as if the IEEPA tariffs never applied, reliquidate the entries, and consolidate your refund into a lump-sum ACH payment. You can monitor refund status through the REV-615 CAPE Refunds Trade Report accessible on the ACE Portal.
Is There a Deadline? Understanding the Urgency
CBP has not announced a hard application deadline in the way you might see with a typical refund program. However, there are time-sensitive constraints that make acting promptly critical:
The 80-Day Liquidation Window: Phase 1 is limited to entries that are either unliquidated or were liquidated within the preceding 80 days. Liquidation is CBP’s finalization of the duties owed on a customs entry. As each day passes, more of your entries may fall outside this window and be pushed to a future phase of CAPE—which will likely take longer to process.
Protest Withdrawal Consideration: If you previously filed a formal protest with CBP challenging tariff charges on an entry, and that protest is within 80 days of liquidation, withdrawing the protest may allow you to access the faster CAPE refund process rather than waiting for protest resolution. Discuss this option with a customs attorney before taking action.
The practical advice is straightforward: do not wait. Businesses that had completed their electronic setup as of April 9, 2026 are already positioned to be in the first wave of refund processing. The longer you delay, the more likely it is that some of your entries age out of Phase 1 eligibility and into a later, slower phase.
CBP estimates refunds will be issued within 60 to 90 days of CAPE Declaration acceptance, though high volume and complexity may extend that timeline for some claims. Businesses filing clean, accurate declarations in the early weeks of the program are best positioned for timely payment.
What to Have Ready Before You File
Organization and accuracy are the keys to a successful claim. Before you or your customs broker file a CAPE Declaration, gather and verify the following:
Business Identity and Account Access
Your CBP Importer of Record number (EIN-based or CBP-assigned)
Your ACE Secure Data Portal login credentials (or confirmation that your broker has account access)
Confirmation that the “Importer” sub-account is active in ACE
Banking Information for ACH
Bank name, routing number, and account number for the account designated to receive refunds
Account type (checking or savings) and account holder name exactly as it appears at your bank
Note: This enrollment must be completed in the ACE Portal under the ACH refund section—separate from any ACH setup for paying duties
Customs Entry Documentation
Entry summary forms (CBP Form 7501) for all imports during the IEEPA tariff period (roughly February 2025 through February 2026)
A list of entry numbers on which IEEPA tariffs were paid—identifiable by HTS
Chapter 99 codes beginning with 9903.01 or 9903.02
Liquidation status for each entry (unliquidated, or date of liquidation)
Records of duties actually paid on each shipment
Broker Information (If Applicable)
The name and contact information of your licensed customs broker
A current Power of Attorney (POA) authorizing your broker to file on your behalf, if they will be submitting the CAPE Declaration for you
CBP Form 4811 (Special Address Notification) if you wish to designate a third party to receive refunds on your behalf
Should You File Yourself or Use a Customs Broker?
The answer depends primarily on the volume of your imports. If your business made ten or fewer import entries during the relevant period, self-filing through the ACE Portal is feasible—provided you are comfortable with the portal’s technical requirements and can ensure your entry data is accurate.
If your business has dozens or hundreds of entries—common for manufacturing, retail, and distribution businesses—working with your customs broker is strongly advisable. Brokers can pull your entry data directly from ACE, compile the required CSV file, and file CAPE Declarations in bulk. Several major brokers have introduced flat-rate or capped pricing for CAPE filings. The time and error-reduction value they provide for high-volume filers far outweighs the cost.
One important caution: only the Importer of Record or the licensed customs broker who actually filed the original entries can file a CAPE Declaration. A third-party consultant, accountant, or attorney cannot file on your behalf through CAPE unless they also hold a customs broker license and filed the original entries.
A Note on Entries Not Covered by Phase 1
If some of your entries fall outside Phase 1 eligibility—because they liquidated more than 80 days ago, are subject to reconciliation flags, or involve warehouse entries—do not assume you have lost your right to a refund. CBP has expressly stated that additional CAPE phases are forthcoming to address these more complex scenarios.
Additionally, thousands of importers have filed individual lawsuits with the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) to protect their refund rights outside the CAPE administrative process. If you believe a significant sum is at stake and your entries may not be fully addressed through CAPE, consulting with a trade attorney about whether filing a CIT protective claim is appropriate for your situation may be worthwhile.