CBP opens tariff‑refund Phase 1 on April 20

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will open the first phase of its tariff-refund system on April 20, giving some importers a new way to seek International Emergency Economic Powers Act duty refunds. (cbp.gov) The agency said the new tool, called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, will run inside the Automated Commercial Environment portal that importers and customs brokers already use. Phase 1 covers certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation. (cbp.gov) To file, the importer of record or its authorized customs broker must submit a comma-separated values file through the portal, not through the Automated Broker Interface. Each declaration can list up to 9,999 entries, and filers can submit more than one declaration. (cbp.gov) Customs said the system will remove the International Emergency Economic Powers Act Chapter 99 tariff line from accepted entries, recalculate the entry, and then issue consolidated refunds with interest after review. Refunds will be grouped by importer of record, or by a designated notify party on Customs Form 4811, and by liquidation date. (cbp.gov) The accounting work starts before any money moves. Customs now issues refunds electronically through Automated Clearing House, and it is urging companies that may be eligible to make sure they have an Automated Commercial Environment portal account, an importer sub-account, and current bank information on file. (cbp.gov) That setup leaves importers and brokers with a records problem as well as a filing problem. Thompson Hine said companies need to match eligible entries, review liquidation status, confirm who is entitled to receive the refund, and prepare for bookkeeping and documentation issues as the phased rollout begins. (thompsonhinesmartrade.com) The refund process follows months of tariff-driven price increases that showed up in consumer goods. The Budget Lab at Yale found that imported core goods and durable goods prices each rose 1.5% during 2025 through January 2026, and earlier estimates showed household appliances up 3.9% and furniture up 3.1% versus the pre-2025 trend by June 2025. (budgetlab.yale.edu, budgetlab.yale.edu) Congressional Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee estimated that consumers paid more than $231 billion in tariff costs between February 2025 and January 2026, or about $1,745 per family. That means the legal right to a refund sits with importers of record even though the higher prices were often paid at the register by households. (jec.senate.gov, truthout.org) Truthout reported that U.S. trade law entitles only importers of record to these refunds and does not require companies to pass the money through to shoppers. Some companies have discussed customer reimbursement publicly, but Customs’ system is built to pay the filer or its designated recipient, not consumers directly. (truthout.org, cbp.gov) April 20 is only the first step. Customs said CAPE will be deployed in phases, with later releases handling more complicated claims beyond the narrower slice of entries allowed in Phase 1. (cbp.gov)