The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has launched a new landing page for “International Emergency Economic Powers (IEEPA) Duty Refunds,” rolling out a process for recouping IEEPA tariffs. It should be noted that only importers of record and authorized customs brokers can apply for tariff refunds, and many questions regarding refunds remain unanswered.

CPB announced it is “developing the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) functionality within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) to streamline the submission and processing of valid refund requests for duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as authorized by court order or applicable law.”

CAPE is designed to consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis.

CBP plans to implement CAPE through a phased development approach, adding more functionality in subsequent phases for more complicated scenarios. Phase 1, which launched on April 20, is limited to certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation.

CBP reports that importers of record and custom brokers need to take the following actions to request refunds of IEEPA duties:

• Establish an ACE Secure Data Portal account (ACE Portal account),
• Use the ACE Portal account to provide CBP with bank account information, and
• Submit CAPE Declarations in the ACE Portal (See the link below for details).

Qualified applicants can apply for an ACE portal importer account and enroll in ACH refunds here.