U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released an update1 in their development of the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), which they will be using to process and issue tariff refunds related to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). CBP outlined a 45-day timeframe for reviewing and liquidating entries (with exceptions for further review), though it did not provide an overall timeline for when refund payment will be made. In this update, each of the four integrated components to CAPE were reported as follows:
| Integrated Component Description | % Complete |
|---|---|
| Claim portal | 85% |
| Mass processing | 60% |
| Review and liquidation/reliquidation | 80% |
| Refund | 75% |
On March 27, 2026, an amended order2 was issued that affirmed that tariffs for all unliquidated entries and liquidated entries for which the 180-day protest period has not expired are required to be recalculated without regard to IEEPA tariffs. The Court also required all final and liquidated entries (i.e., entries for which the 180-day protest period has expired) to be reliquidated “without regard” to IEEPA duties. However, CBP has now stated that they will not be able to fulfill this amendment within their “Phase 1” rollout of CAPE. However, the Phase 1 capabilities of the system will reportedly be able to process 63% of entries with IEEPA duties, and in addition to unliquidated entries, it will allow for:
- Entries with a liquidation status of “Suspended,” &ldquot;Extended,” or &ldquot;Under Review”
- CAPE Declarations containing warehouse and warehouse withdrawal entries
- CAPE Declarations containing entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days to ensure that processing is complete and the entries are reliquidated by the 90th day to meet the agency’s legal timeframe for voluntary reliquidation pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1501
Notably, per the updated document, the following will not be included in Phase 1:
- 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; and
- Entries subject to AD/CVD, for which DOC has issued liquidation instructions, that are pending liquidation in accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1504(d)
Forvis Mazars will continue updates on the progress of the CAPE, including developments as to tariff rates in our From the Hill publication.