US opens $150bn tariff refund portal

U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened an online portal on April 20 for companies seeking refunds on tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. (cbp.gov) The system is called CAPE, short for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, and it sits inside the Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal used by importers and customs brokers. (cbp.gov) Phase 1 lets importers of record and the brokers who filed their entries upload a CSV file listing the entry numbers for which they want refunds. Each filing can include up to 9,999 entries, and companies can submit more than one declaration. (cbp.gov 1) (cbp.gov 2) The first release is narrow. CBP says it will process most entries that are still unliquidated or are no more than 80 days past liquidation, while more complicated cases are being pushed to later phases. (cbp.gov 1) (cbp.gov 2) CBP says CAPE will consolidate refunds, including interest, instead of paying them entry by entry. For valid claims accepted in Phase 1, importers and brokers should generally expect payment within 60 to 90 days, including review time and Treasury processing. (cbp.gov 1) (cbp.gov 2) The portal exists because President Donald Trump’s IEEPA tariff program was unwound in February. Executive Order 14389, published February 25, said the additional ad valorem duties imposed under a series of IEEPA orders “shall no longer be in effect” and “shall no longer be collected” as soon as practicable. (federalregister.gov) That order covered tariffs tied to multiple emergency declarations, including the February 2025 border and China orders, the April 2025 reciprocal tariff order, and later actions involving Brazil, Russia, Cuba and Iran. (federalregister.gov) (federalregister.gov) The Trump administration has said it will keep pursuing its trade agenda through other authorities. In a February statement after the Supreme Court’s IEEPA decision, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the administration would immediately impose a temporary 10% surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. (ustr.gov) The biggest unknown is scale. Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated on February 20 that reversing the IEEPA tariffs could generate as much as $175 billion in refunds, while Bloomberg reported the administration had built the portal to handle almost $170 billion in claims. (budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu) (bloomberg.com) For importers, the work is now administrative, not legal. They need an ACE portal account, separate bank details for refunds, and a clean list of eligible entries before CBP will send money back. (cbp.gov)