CBP Outlines IEEPA Tariff Refund Process that May Be Operational as Soon as in 45 Days

The last several weeks have brought great news for importers.

In February, the Supreme Court struck down the sweeping tariff regime the Trump administration imposed last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Then on March 4, the Court of International Trade (CIT) directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin the process for refunding tariffs collected under IEEPA.

And prior to a closed-door CIT hearing scheduled for the morning of March 6,, the government filed a declaration signed by Brandon Lord, a high ranking CBP official. Citing various technical and personnel limitations, Lord explained that CBP is unable to comply with the CIT’s March 4 order, as amended on March 5. Instead, the declaration proposes a new administrative protocol and technical process for validating IEEPA tariff refund claims and issuing refunds to importers. The declaration states that the new process “will require minimal submission from importers” and should be ready to use in 45 days.  Notably, in contrast with some previous filings by the government, the declaration seems to accept the premise of the CIT’s March 4 order and does not state that the government intends to challenge the refunds further.

The declaration summarizes the CBP’s anticipated refund process as follows:

• The importer files a declaration in CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), the system of record for imported merchandise, that includes a list of entries on which IEEPA duties were paid.
• ACE runs a series of validations on each entry within the declaration and automatically re-calculates the duty owed without the IEEPA tariffs (with applicable interest).
• CBP verifies the declaration and processes refunds as soon as practicable.
• ACE automatically finalizes (liquidates or reliquidates) the entries.
• ACE automatically aggregates the refunds with interest by importer and liquidation date.
• CBP certifies the refunds.
• The Department of the Treasury issues IEEPA refunds electronically.

After the March 6 closed-door hearing, the CIT entered an order further amending its March 4 order, and lifted its previous requirement that CBP comply with the order immediately, noting this change was made upon consideration of  Lord’s declaration. Although the March 6 order does not provide further insight into the refund process, it would give CBP additional time to implement the refund process described above. The CIT subsequently entered a second order on March 6, 2026, requiring CBP to file a progress report with the court by 2 p.m. EST on March 12, 2026.

While the government could change course, the straightforward refund process outlined in the CBP declaration should provide comfort to importers and tariff claim purchasers alike.