In a filing made late Friday, May 29, 2026, the government informed the court in VOS Selections v. United States, Ct No. 25-00066, that it intends to appeal its Order that CBP refund duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for any entry in which the liquidation has become “final” under 19 USC §1501 (entries that are more than 90 days past liquidation), as it says that such an order exceeds the court’s authority.

Government attorneys said that entries that are more than 90 days past liquidation cannot be refunded unless a judge orders importer-by-importer reliquidations, expressing its position that the CIT does not have the authority to order refunds on finally liquidated entries from importers who have not actually sued CBP or the government.

What Can Importers Do?

CBP is continuing to process IEEPA refunds for entries that have not yet liquidated or have liquidated but the liquidation is not more than 80 days old at the time of CAPE filing. This, however, leaves a great number of entries that are outside the scope Phase 1 of the CAPE program.

Currently, the following types of entries are outside the scope of Phase 1 of CAPE:

• Entries that have been flagged for reconciliation, as well as Entry Type 09 - Reconciliation Summary,
• Entries designated on a drawback claim,
• Entries covered by an open protest,
• Entries not filed in ACE and entries without a liquidation status in ACE,
• Entries subject to Antidumping/Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD), for which the Department of Commerce (DOC) has issued liquidation instructions, that are pending liquidation in accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1504(d), and
• Entries for which liquidation is “final” (meaning final under 9 USC §1501).

If You Have an Entry That is Outside of the Scope of Phase 1 of CAPE, What Should You Do? 

According to the DOJ, entries for which IEEPA tariffs have been paid that are more than 90 days past liquidation cannot be refunded unless a judge orders CBP to do so for that importer.

Importers may stop the finality of liquidation by filing an administrative protest under 19 USC §1514 against the assessment and collection of the illegal IEEPA tariffs under VOS Selections v. United States and Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, 2026 WL 477534 (U.S. Feb. 20, 2026). If CBP refuses to refund the illegally assessed IEEPA tariffs and denies the protest, importers may then challenge the denial of the protest(s) in the CIT under 28 USC §1581(a) and request that the court order CBP to refund the IEEPA  tariffs paid by the importer.

Importers should be cautioned not to file a protest on a liquidated entry until after the 90th day following liquidation as this could otherwise delay or prevent the entry from being processed under CAPE.

Importers may also wish to avail themselves on a dual jurisdictional approach and file a companion action under 28 USC 1581(i), requesting the court order CBP to refund the illegal IEEPA tariffs.

CBP Guidance on Reconciliation Entries

According to recent guidance (updated 5/26/2026 ) published on its IEEPA Tariff Refund webpage, CBP is working on a phased solution to process unliquidated or liquidated (not more than 80 days beyond the liquidation date) entries flagged for reconciliation (Entry Types 01, 02, and 06) on a CAPE declaration, and for which an entry type 09 has not yet been filed at the time of CAPE acceptance.

For now, CBP suggests that the trade community hold reconciliation filings (entry type 09) unless the reconciliation filing deadline is close to expiring (less than 30 days) so that the CAPE declaration can be filed and processed first. CBP is also working on a solution for situations where the reconciliation entry is already on file.

CBP notes that as these phases are deployed, it will issue Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) messages providing filing requirements and guidance.

For further information about this and other Customs matters, contact George Tuttle III at geo@tuttlelaw.com or 415-986-8780.

The information in this article is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship with respect to any event or occurrence and may not be considered as such.

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