Tariff‑refund process set

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it will open the first phase of its tariff-refund system on April 20, 2026, for duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. (cbp.gov) The agency is building the refund process inside the Automated Commercial Environment, the trade portal importers and customs brokers already use, under a tool called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. Phase 1 covers certain unliquidated entries and certain entries still within 80 days of liquidation. (cbp.gov) To file, the importer of record or the broker that filed the entry must upload a comma-separated values file through the portal. Each declaration can list up to 9,999 entries, and filers can submit more than one declaration. (cbp.gov) Customs said it will remove the International Emergency Economic Powers Act Chapter 99 tariff line from accepted entries, then liquidate or reliquidate them and group refunds by importer, or by a designated refund recipient named on Customs Form 4811. Customs also said the refunds will include interest. (cbp.gov) The court backdrop is recent and specific. On April 1, 2026, Senior Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade said the government was making “satisfactory progress” toward the April 20 deadline for Phase 1. (thompsonhinesmartrade.com) That same court process also widened the eventual refund job. A March 27, 2026 amendment to the court’s earlier order said refunds must also reach entries whose liquidation is already final, even though Customs says that part will come in a later phase. (thompsoncoburn.com) For importers, the immediate bottleneck is administrative, not legal. Customs now issues refunds electronically through Automated Clearing House, and companies without an Automated Commercial Environment portal account and bank authorization risk delays or rejected payments. (cbp.gov) Customs began ending paper refund checks on February 6, 2026, after updating the portal for electronic refund enrollment in January. Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner Susan S. Thomas said the changes were meant to speed payments, cut errors and move refunds onto a secure digital process. (cbp.gov) Phase 1 is also narrower than the full universe of claims. Trade lawyers citing the government’s March 31 declaration said the opening round is expected to cover about 63% of entries that paid or deposited these duties, with more complex cases left for later development. (thompsonhinesmartrade.com) Customs said it will keep updating its refund page, and the trade court set another status report for April 14, 2026. That leaves importers and brokers one week to make sure their portal access, bank details and entry lists are ready before the first filings open. (cbp.gov)