Atlanta firm urges importers to file IEEPA refund claims before appeal deadline

By AI, Created 4:37 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – The Tariff Bureau LLC is warning U.S. importers to move quickly as the federal government’s early-June deadline to appeal a sweeping IEEPA refund order approaches. The firm says late filers could lose access to refunds if the appeal leads to a stay or narrows the scope of the Court of International Trade’s mandate.

Why it matters: - The refund fight could affect billions of dollars in IEEPA duties collected from U.S. importers between 2025 and 2026. - A stay or narrower appeal outcome could delay payments or block some importers from recovering money. - Early filers already have claims in the pipeline, while non-filers may miss the only current refund process.

What happened: - The Tariff Bureau LLC on May 12 urged U.S. importers to act before the federal government’s early-June deadline to appeal the Court of International Trade’s refund order. - The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Feb. 20, 2026, in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize presidential tariffs. - The Court’s decision invalidated IEEPA-based duties collected from February 2025 through February 2026, including reciprocal tariffs, fentanyl surcharges and country-specific rates. - Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade issued a refund order on March 4 directing CBP to liquidate unliquidated entries without IEEPA tariffs and to reliquidate eligible liquidated entries. - The refund order applies to all importers, not only the parties that sued.

The details: - The government opposed Judge Eaton’s order, sought a stay and was denied. - The order was reissued, resetting the 60-day appeal window. - CBP launched Phase 1 of its CAPE portal on April 20 inside the Automated Commercial Environment. - By April 26, importers had submitted more than 75,300 CAPE Declarations covering over 11.2 million individual entries. - CBP had accepted about 21% of filed claims by late April. - The first ACH refund payments were expected to reach importer bank accounts the week of May 11, 2026. - Refunds are being processed on a first-come, first-served basis. - CBP estimates more than $150 billion in IEEPA duties were collected between April 2025 and February 2026. - Independent estimates put total refund exposure, including statutory interest, at about $166 billion. - The Tariff Bureau said only 21% of eligible importers had filed claims by late April.

Between the lines: - The appeal deadline matters because a successful challenge could freeze refunds while courts review the scope of the order. - The CAPE filing pace suggests many importers are moving, but the volume of remaining unfiled claims also shows a large share of the market has not acted. - The current process rewards speed and clean documentation, which raises the risk for companies that wait for more clarity.

What’s next: - Importers are being told to enroll in ACE and activate ACH refund details so CBP can issue payments. - Companies are also being told to file a CAPE Declaration through the CAPE tab in ACE, since protests and post-summary corrections are not being processed. - The Tariff Bureau says importers should compile entry records from Feb. 4, 2025 through Feb. 24, 2026, including entry numbers, commercial invoices, proof of IEEPA duty payment and broker records. - Foreign importers without a U.S. bank account are being advised to assign refund rights using CBP Form 4811, a process that can take 30 days or more. - The Tariff Bureau says advisory support can help validate CSV formatting and reduce rejection risks tied to entry mix errors, incorrect HTS coding and ACH enrollment gaps. - The company says the CAPE portal is currently the only mechanism CBP is accepting for these claims.

The bottom line: - The Supreme Court opened the door, but the refund window is now a race against the government’s appeal clock.