Action Required - Important Security Information

Please Complete and Return this CTPAT Questionnaire

As a member of CTPAT, IAB would like to highlight the importance of security procedures in place to ensure that your shipments do not get compromised.

Please see the following guide for more information, complete the attached questionnaire and submit this form back to us:

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

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by IAB Admin

New Section 232 Tariff Actions on Pharmaceuticals and Metals

President Issues New Pharma Tariffs and Revises Metals Section 232 Measures

President Trump issued two significant proclamations under Section 232 impacting pharmaceutical imports and modifying existing tariffs on metals and derivative products. Below is a summary of the key provisions, timelines, and considerations for importers provided by Sidley Austin LLP.

We will continue to provide updates as new information is being released. If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Earlier today, President Trump signed two proclamations related to tariffs: one imposed new tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (“the Pharma 232 Proclamation”); and the other modified the tariffs previously imposed on imported aluminum, steel and copper (and derivative articles thereof) pursuant to Section 232 (“the “Modified Metals 232 Proclamation”).

For your reference, copies of the proclamations, including the annexes, are attached:

At a high level, the Pharma 232 Proclamation imposes a 100% tariff on patented pharmaceuticals and associated ingredients, but exempts (fully or partially) wide swaths of the industry. For example, products of countries that have agreements with the United States will be subject to a tariff of 15% (Japan, the EU, Korea, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) or 10% (UK); companies that have negotiated an on-shoring agreement with the Department of Commerce will be subject to a 20% rate initially and that rate will jump to 100% in 2030; companies that have negotiated an agreement with Commerce and a most-favored-nation pricing agreement with the Department of Health & Human Services will be subject to a 0% rate until January 20, 2029; certain categories of products (e.g., orphan drugs, nuclear mediciines, PDTs, fertility treatments, cell and gene therapies; antibody drug conjugates; medical countermeasures related to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, animal health pharmaceuticals) also appear to be eligible for 0% treatment if one of more conditions are satisfied.

Generics not subject to these tariffs at this time, but that will be reviewed in 1 year. U.S.-origin pharmaceuticals are not subject to these tariffs – and this is important given how the customs rules of origin for pharmaceuticals work. There are a lot of details in both the proclamation and in the annexes. We recommend reviewing them all.

Companies (and countries) that have not yet negotiated a lower rate, will have the opportunity to do so. The tariffs imposed by this proclamation are effective July 31, 2026 for companies listed in Annex III and September 29, 2026 for everyone else (this is probably to give companies extra time to obtain an agreement that provides for a lower rate).

As for the Modified Metals 232 Proclamation, it modified the tariffs with regard to so called “derivative articles” – i.e., articles that contain aluminum, steel or copper as a component. The proclamation removed certain derivative articles from the scope of the Section 232 tariffs. It also addressed an issue that has bedeviled importers – how to calculate the dutiable metal content when the imported article includes metal and non-metal components – by requiring the tariff to be applied to the entire value of the covered article, regardless of metal content.

The President also terminated the “inclusion process” which had allowed companies to request that Commerce add additional products to the list of articles subject to these tariffs and replaced it with an interagency process for inclusions. According to the White House, the proclamation “establishes clear rules” for determining the Section 232 tariffs for aluminum, steel and copper:

  • Articles made entirely or almost entirely of aluminum, steel, or copper will pay a flat 50% on their full value -- for example, steel coils and aluminum sheet.
  • Derivative articles substantially made of steel, aluminum, or copper will pay a flat 25% on their full value.
  • Certain metal-intensive industrial equipment and electrical grid equipment will pay 15% through 2027, to accelerate the massive industrial base buildout currently underway across the United States.
  • Products made abroad but entirely with American steel, aluminum, and copper will be subject to lower tariffs of 10%.
  • Products made of 15% or less steel, aluminum, or copper will no longer be subject to Section 232 metals tariffs.

The changes made by this proclamation are effective April 6, 2026.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin

IEEPA Refund Process Updates

The following notice from Tuttle Law provides updates on the evolving IEEPA tariff refund process.

IEEPA Refund Process Update - March 31, 2026

This is an update on recent legal developments on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) Tariff refund process as of March 31, 2026.  Late last week the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ordered Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to include finally liquidated entries in its Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries ( CAPE) program. CBP, however, recently advised the court that it cannot at this time include finally liquidated entries, setting the stage for further fireworks between the court and CBP.

On March 27, 2026, Senior Judge Richard Eaton of the CIT issued an order in Atmus Filtration Inc. v. United States, updating his previous order of March 20, 2026, regarding refunds of duties paid under IEEPA.

The March 27, 2026 order broadens the scope to include finally liquidated entries, encompassing those entries that have completed both the 314-day liquidation cycle as well as the 180-day protest period during which importers can challenge the final assessment of duties imposed by CBP by the protest procedure (19 U.S.C. §1514). Under this new order, the implication is that importers will not be required to file protests for entries that are beyond the date of finality in order to recover the IEEPA duties (“Any liquidated entries for which liquidation is final shall be reliquidated without regard to the IEEPA duties.”). In the March 27, 2026 order, the judge ordered CBP to:

  • Liquidate all entries that have not been liquidated with an IEEPA refund.  (This is the CAPE process that is still under development by CBP.  (An entry typically liquidates at the 314th day following the date of entry and this information can be included on the importer’s ACE report).
  • The judge also ordered CBP to not only reliquidate any entry that has liquidated but for which the liquidation is within CBP’s voluntary reliquidation period of 90 days, or before 404th date following the date of entry, but to reliquidate any entry that has liquidated, regardless of whether the liquidation is final or not, if IEEPA duties were deposited.

The court’s March 27, 2026 order can be viewed here.

On March 30 CBP filed its status report with the CIT, where it stated that

“in order to  meet the timeline for Phase 1 deployment … CBP must continue developing Phase 1 of CAPE without the inclusion of finally liquidated entries. ... Phase 1 will only process unliquidated entries and entries within the 90-day voluntary reliquidation period.”

Understanding The CAPE Program

In a declaration presented to the Court by the Executive Director, Trade Programs Directorate, Office of Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (Brandon Lord), the CAPE Program was explained as consisting of four integrated components:

1. Claim Portal

  • The CAPE claim portal will be a new web-based tool in ACE for importers and brokers to submit IEEPA refund requests.
  • Filers will submit claims by uploading a CSV file listing the entry summaries for which refunds are requested.
  • ACE will perform file-level validations, such as checking whether the submission is complete, properly formatted, submitted by the correct party, and not corrupted.
  • If the file fails validation, ACE will reject the entire submission and identify the errors so the filer can correct them and resubmit.
  • If the file passes, ACE will then review each listed entry, including whether the entry exists in ACE and includes an IEEPA Chapter 99 tariff number.
  • Entries that fail these checks will be removed, but the remaining entries will continue through the process.
  • Filers will be able to review rejected entries and resubmit them separately if the issues can be corrected.

2. Mass Processing

  • For validated entries, the CAPE Mass Processing component will remove the applicable IEEPA tariff numbers from the entry summaries.
  • ACE will then rerun its normal duty calculations.
  • In effect, the system will recalculate duties as if the IEEPA duties had never been declared.
  • Once that process is complete, the CAPE Declaration will be accepted.

3. Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation

  • After acceptance, the entries will move to review and liquidation or reliquidation.
  • ACE will schedule the entries for liquidation or reliquidation a set number of days after acceptance, while still allowing CBP to conduct manual review if needed.
  • The system will update the entry summaries to reflect the revised duty amounts and will automatically calculate any applicable interest.
  • CBP states that CAPE liquidations and reliquidations will be processed Monday through Thursday.

4. Refund

  • On the scheduled liquidation or reliquidation date, ACE will send the entries to a CAPE-specific refund process in the ACE collections module.
  • Refunds will be grouped by liquidation or reliquidation date and by importer of record, or by a Form 4811 designee.
  • Once processed, the refunds will be issued electronically to the designated bank account.

CBP’s CAPE program is still in development. The expected date of completion is April 20th, and then there may be testing that is subsequently required. We don’t know as of yet the final date as no information has been released by CBP at this time.

Supposedly, a phased rollout is planned so as to manage the high volume of claims.

As an importer seeking your IEEPA refunds, the first order of business is to access your ACE Portal account to obtain a list of all entries that you have paid IEEPA duties on. In your query you may wish to include other information, such as date of entry, date of liquidation, Chapter 9903 line items, duties paid and Chapter 99 HTUS classification. This is key because it will identify the process to follow for each entry and allow you to validate CBP’s subsequent actions with regard to your IEEPA refund requests. If you wish, we can assist with this.

In the meantime, CBP has indicated that entries will continue to liquidate on the 314th day. This means that the clock is continuing to run with respect to the liquidation of entries, and their horizon of timeliness. If your entry is currently approaching your event horizon of timeliness (the 494th day) and either CAPE is not ready or you have not filed your CAPE submission, it is advised that you file a protest against the liquidation as a means to protect your right to a refund.

What if the liquidation of my entry has already occurred and the liquidated entry has already past or is closely approaching its 180th day following liquidation? If the entry has reached its date of finality or will do so before the anticipated operational date of CAPE, you should consult with your Customs or trade counsel as to whether you should file a summons and complaint in the CIT asserting jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §1581(i), so that it may be in a position to order CBP to refund the duties on those finally liquidated entries that are now beyond the protest period. While the court may be emphatic that the process will cover all entries whether finally liquidated or not, a Judge’s decisions or orders are subject to appeal.

Please keep in mind that imports from China were assessed with IEEPA duties beginning on February 4, 2025, at 10%, which then increased to 20% and so on in March of 2025. IEEPA duties on products from Canada and Mexico, not otherwise eligible under USMCA began in March of 2025. These dates are important as imports from China entered the liquidation cycle on or about December 25, 2025 (or earlier). The 90 day re-liquidation cycle would begin to end on March 25, 2026, and finality of liquidation occurs on June 23, 2026.

The rest of the world began the payment of IEEPA duties in April, 2025. These entries started to liquidate on February 13, 2026, and will be available for CAPE for 180 days following the actual date of liquidation.

Judge Eaton’s order of March 27, 2026, is very helpful in clarifying and simplifying the process associated with requesting refunds for the majority of IEEPA tariffs paid, even if it will take longer to develop refund processes for more complex entry types, including reconciliation, drawback, warehouse entries, surety payments, and postal informal entries.

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin

CBP Updates on ACE Portal Access and ACH Refunds

CBP has released the following message regarding the latest updates on ACE Portal account set-up and ACH refunds.

CSMS # 68179006 - REMINDER: ACE Portal Access and ACH Set-Up Required to Receive CBP Refunds

On February 6, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) transitioned to electronic-only refunds, as announced in the Electronic Refunds Interim Final Rule published January 2, 2026, in the Federal Register (91 FR 21). This change was necessitated by 31 U.S.C. § 3332 and President Trump’s March 25, 2025, Executive Order 14247, Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account, 90 FR 14001.

Since February 6, 2026, CBP has had over 12,300 certified refunds rejected because the recipient party did not provide CBP the necessary banking information. If a refund recipient has failed to provide CBP valid U.S. bank account information in the Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal), CBP is unable to deliver electronic refunds to that recipient.

Importers and other parties who have had entry summaries liquidate since February 6, 2026, and have not yet provided CBP the necessary banking information to effectuate ACH refunds need to follow the instructions in the following ACH refund enrollment resources:

For technical questions, contact the ACE Account Services Desk at ace.support@cbp.dhs.gov. For general inquiries, contact the Office of Trade Relations at traderelations@cbp.dhs.gov.

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin

Important Update: IEEPA Refund Process Requirements

Key Steps to Protect Your Refund Eligibility

Recent guidance indicates that certain entries may require formal protest to remain eligible for IEEPA refunds. We encourage you to review your entries promptly and ensure your ACE account is properly set up to receive ACH refunds.

Please contact our office at compliance@iab-sd.com for questions.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin

IEEPA Tariff Refund Updates - March 13, 2026

Please see the following message from Roll & Harris LLP regarding the latest updates on IEEPA tariff refunds.

IEEPA Tariffs Refunds / CIT Continues Oversight Over Possible ACE Portal Refund System / CBP to Report to CIT Again Next Week / Immediate Refunds Still Delayed / Government Appeal Still Possible

Yesterday, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) filed its status report to the Court of International Trade (CIT) regarding refunds of IEEPA tariffs. Recall that previously, the CIT had ordered CBP to refund IEEPA tariffs that were paid on UNLIQUIDATED entries and on entries for which LIQUIDATION IS NOT FINAL, but the CIT later suspended immediate compliance due to CBP reporting to the CIT how difficult such a process would be.

CBP previously advised the CIT that it contemplated building ACE functionality that would create the following refund process:

  • The importer files a declaration in ACE 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.

Yesterday's status report sheds more light on what CBP is doing, although many questions remain unanswered - particularly with regard to liquidated entries. Entries where liquidation is final likely must still be the subject of claims brought by litigation.

Per CBP's latest status report, the name for the ACE functionality will be "CAPE," which stands for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. CAPE will have four (4) components to it:

  • A Claim Portal in ACE
  • Mass Processing
  • Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation
  • Refund

Importantly, CBP is proposing that importers will have the burden of applying for a refund claim. That is very different from CBP, who knows who has paid and how much was paid, proactively issuing refunds of illegally collected tariffs. Also note that, without an ACE account, the importer will be unable to make a claim, nor to receive a refund. Most importers still do not have their own ACE account with ACH refund functionality enabled.

CBP also contemplates that importers, not CBP, will have the burden of identifying the entries for which the importer wishes a refund. This burden will be met by the importer uploading a data file (in .CSV format) containing those entries and "all required information." Conspicuously absent from this status report is that CBP did not indicate what information would be required to make the claim. The "claim portal" portion is about 70% developed, per CBP. CBP did not provide a target date for anticipated 100% completion of the claim portal.

Next, the mass processing aspect of CAPE will involve CBP/ACE removing the IEEPA Chapter 99 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) classifications from the entries that were successfully uploaded in the Claim Portal and ACE will validate the duty calculation variances and accept (or not) the claim. This part of the CAPE process (mass processing) is only 40% complete per CBP. Again, no target date for anticipated 100% completion of the mass processing part of CAPE.

Once the duty calculations are validated, CBP anticipates that the CBP will proceed to liquidate or reliquidate on a specified number of days after the mass processing acceptance date. CBP states the liquidation/reliquidation part of CAPE is already 80% complete, but no target date for 100% completion.

Lastly, the CAPE system will direct refunds to occur on accepted CAPE refund declarations. Refunds will be consolidated per liquidation date/reliquidation date and importer of record. CBP advises this part of the CAPE system is only 60% complete. As above, there is not announced target date for 100% completion.

Per CBP's status report, the CAPE process, at least initially, will not cover antidumping/countervailing (ADD/CVD) entries, finally liquidated entries, nor entries that have a liquidation status of suspended, extended, or under review. Certain entry types also will not be covered (e.g., warehouse withdrawals and entries identified on drawback claims).

Judge Eaton continues to want to keep CBP on a short leash since he ordered CBP to provide another status report to the CIT on the new ACE functionality implementation by March 19th at 2 pm EST.

What does all of the above mean for importers? In our view, it means importers need still need to proceed with caution and control those aspects of the refund process that they can control, such as filing a refund lawsuit, filing protests, etc. This likely will continue to be our view unless and until the government fails to take a timely appeal and unless and until the government announces the CAPE refund process is "open for business." Even then, questions will remain around the types of entries that are NOT covered by the CAPE process, as well as what CBP will do with regard to entries that were (and continue to be) subject to bills for IEEPA tariffs, what CBP will do with regard to reconciliation entries, etc.

Practically speaking, it also means importers must be sure to apply for an ACE account and to enable ACH refunds in ACE once they have their ACE account.

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

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by IAB Admin

CBP Updates on ACE IEEPA Refund Programming

CBP has provided an update to the Court of International Trade (CIT) outlining the progress of its new ACE functionality that will support IEEPA refund claims without protests and PEAs.

Please see the following message from NCBFAA on more details about the new program called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE).

We will continue on providing further updates as this develops. We highly recommend setting up your ACE account to facilitate refunds.

CBP Outlines ACE IEEPA Refund Programming Progress to CIT Judge Eaton

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today, March 12, provided an outline of its ACE IEEPA refund programming, so far, to Court of International Trade (CIT) Judge Robert Eaton. This new ACE functionality will be called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), according to the filing submitted to CIT by Brandon Lord, Executive Director of Trade Programs for CBP’s Office of Trade.

The CAPE Claim Portal will be web-based and serve as the entry point for importers and customs brokers to submit IEEPA refund requests (“CAPE Declaration”) to CBP. Once operational, a new tab will be available in both importer and customs broker ACE Portal accounts.

CBP is designing CAPE with four integrated components:

  • Claim Portal,
  • Mass Processing,
  • Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation, and
  • Refund.

“These components reflect both how CBP anticipates refund requests will proceed through CAPE and how CBP is structuring its development efforts,” Lord said.

As of March 11, CBP estimates that its development of the Claim Portal component is 70% complete. Lord said, CBP has “finished developing the Claim Portal user interface and is currently developing the programming necessary to run the automated validations described above and provide information about validation errors to the CAPE Declaration filer.”

The agency said the CAPE Mass Processing component will “automatically remove any applicable IEEPA HTS numbers from the entry summaries submitted to and validated by the CAPE Claim Portal component. After the IEEPA HTS numbers are removed, the Mass Processing component runs the ACE duty calculation validations.” As of March 11, CBP estimates that its development of the Mass Processing component is 40% complete. “CBP’s development efforts are currently focused on the automated entry summary update process and related validations,” Lord said.

CAPE will also initiate the review and liquidation/reliquidation process for the entries identified in the accepted CAPE Declaration. This component will automatically set the entries to liquidate/reliquidate on a specified number of days from the acceptance date, allowing CBP to conduct a manual review as needed. CBP is developing additional functionality within this CAPE component to streamline any required agency review. It will also process liquidations/reliquidations of entries on a CAPE Declaration Monday through Thursday each week. CBP estimates that its development of the Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation component is 80% complete as of March 11.

When the entry summaries in the accepted CAPE Declaration reach the scheduled liquidation/reliquidation date, ACE will direct those entries to a CAPE-specific refund process within the ACE Collections refunds module.

As of March 11, CBP estimates that its development of the Refund component is 60% complete. CBP has completed developing CAPE-specific refund processing functionality within the ACE Collections framework. Currently, CBP is “performance testing” the CAPE refund consolidation process. CBP plans to complete additional development to further integrate the component with the other CAPE components and conduct additional performance testing in the next few weeks.

“CBP expects that in its first phase of development, CAPE will be able to process the majority of formal and informal entries on which IEEPA duties were paid, other than unliquidated entries subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, or entries for which the liquidation status in ACE is “Suspended,” “Extended,” or “Under Review,” and certain other entry types such as warehouse withdrawals, entries designated on a drawback claim, etc.,” Lord said. “CBP will provide detailed guidance to users regarding the scope and functionality of each phase of development as it is implemented.”

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin

Latest News on IEEPA Tariffs Refunds

Action Required: Set Up ACE & Activate ACH for Refunds

We are sharing updated information from Roll & Harris LLP regarding the latest developments on IEEPA tariffs refunds.

To ensure you are receiving refunds, please set up your ACE account and activate ACH refunds as soon as possible.

IEEPA Tariffs Refunds - Importers Win Round 1 Today, but Fight is Not Over

In what can only be described as a near complete win for importers, today, Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ORDERED U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to refund all IEEPA tariffs that were paid on UNLIQUIDATED entries and on entries for which LIQUIDATION IS NOT FINAL.

Judge Eaton noted that the government will have to pay interest on those refunds. For those wishing to listen to the audio of today's hearing, it is available here.

With regard to the entries where LIQUIDATION IS FINAL, the CIT set a closed (not public) conference for this Friday. Judge Eaton identified NOT FINALLY LIQUIDATED entries as those where liquidation happened less than 90 days ago since CBP, per 19 USC 1501, has 90 days from liquidation to voluntarily reliquidate an entry.

If the CIT's order stands - which remains to be seen - and if CBP complies - which also remains to be seen - CBP will have to liquidate every importer's UNLIQUIDATED entries, as well as every importer's entries where liquidation is NOT FINAL (liquidated less than 90 days ago), with refunds of the IEEPA tariffs. We note that is not a 100% complete refund of every IEEPA tariff as FINALLY LIQUIDATED entries are not covered by today's entries, but for most importers, it should result in the refund of the majority of the IEEPA tariffs paid.

In an ideal world, the above means that refunds would start flowing to importers as soon as 2 to 3 weeks from now since refunds usually follow liquidations and reliquidations about 2 to 3 weeks after the liquidation/reliquidation. That is, in an ideal world, CBP would comply with the CIT's order and begin, as early as this Friday (most regular liquidations occur on Fridays), to liquidate currently unliquidated entries without regard to IEEPA tariffs (i.e., refunds). Same for entries that liquidated within the last 90 days.

It is far from clear that we live in the ideal world. The best evidence of this is that toward the end of today's hearing, the government verbally asked for a stay of Judge Eaton's order so as to allow the government to immediately appeal. Judge Eaton summarily denied the government's request, but the government still has appeal rights. It remains to be seen whether it will exercise those rights and file an appeal.

We believe the government will surely appeal. We also anticipate the government will report to the CIT, as soon as Friday, that programming or other difficulties associated with liquidating the over 71 million entries that were filed in the last year with IEEPA tariffs prevents the government from immediately implementing the CIT's order (thus buying the government time to appeal). Surely, the government will argue on appeal that the CIT has no authority to order CBP to do anything with regard to importers who are not in court. If we are correct re the government appealing and the government slow rolling compliance with the CIT's order, then that means refunds will NOT flow immediately to importers.

It bears remembering that the government stated at today's hearing that it does not believe every importer is entitled to a refund of all the IEEPA tariffs an importer has paid. Judge Eaton reminded the government that "I'm not 100% sure that this will be CBP's decision" to make and that the law is 100% clear but that does not mean the government, absent direction from the White House, will simply waive the proverbial white flag on refunds.

Comments made by the Justice Department at today's hearing point to the fact that CBP (presumably at the White House's direction) does not want to issue full refunds to everyone, which is hardly a surprise. And while Judge Eaton has issued his order telling CBP to start refunding to all importers the IEEPA tariffs paid on unliquidated and not finally liquidated entries, it bears remembering that the appeals court will surely have something to say about today's order.

Lastly, Judge Eaton noted that the Chief Judge of the CIT (Chief Judge Mark Barnett) directed Judge Eaton to handle all of the 2100 cases that have been filed and stayed pending the outcome of the V.O.S. decision. As of this writing, Chief Judge Barnett has not assigned Judge Eaton the cases, but it now seems clear that the CIT judge who will oversee the refund process believes (1) the law is clear that the IEEPA tarifs were unlawfully collected and (2) that the IEEPA tariffs were void ab initio so everyone should get a refund.

How Judge Eaton's belief (and now order) will intersect with the White House's decision making and how it will play out on appeal, particularly with regard to those who have not filed suit yet, remains to be seen. While importers, particularly those who have filed a refund lawsuit, have scored an important victory today, the fight is not over.

We will continue to monitor developments and update you as the case progresses. In the meantime, importers who have not already taken action should consult with their regular trade/customs counsel re steps to take to best protect their rights to refunds, including whether it is advisable to immediately file a refund lawsuit, whether to file protests to attempt to keep liquidation from being final, etc.

Importers are also reminded to make sure they have an ACE account with ACH refunds enabled in ACE.

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin

Updates on IEEPA Refunds

IEEPA Refund Developments: Legal Considerations and Immediate Action Items

Please see the following message from Roll & Harris LLP regarding potential IEEPA tariff refunds and legal developments.

We strongly recommend that you consult with legal counsel to evaluate your specific circumstances, as reconciliation entries, drawback claims, and other factors may impact your protest strategy.

While IAB can assist with the preparation and filing of protests, it is highly advisable that you seek legal advice to get the exact language that would work best for your situation. Most importantly, you need to obtain an ACE Portal account and set it up to receive ACH refunds. Please keep in mind that filing protests may increase your bond liability so communication with your surety provider is important.

IEEPA Tariffs Refunds - Justice Department Signals Battle and Refund Delays Ahead

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief Friday night in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit signaling that the government has no intention of moving quickly to refund illegally collected IEEPA tariffs. A copy of the government's brief may be downloaded here. Friday's filing relates to the timing of the appellate mandate, which is what transfers the case back to the U.S. Court of International Trade for the next steps in the litigation, but regardless of the mandate maneuvering, the following "highlight"/"lowlight" quotations from the government's filing ominously foretell fights ahead for importers and indicate that refunds will not be quick:

  • "Plaintiffs again claim the Court should speed ahead, but lack any good reason for that departure from an orderly process."
  • "Plaintiffs claim speed is of the essence because they suffer harm from being “forced to operate” without refunds in the interim. Mot. 5. But a compensable monetary loss is a classic harm that can be remedied by payment of money with appropriate interest, and a plaintiff’s bare desire to be paid immediately is not a basis to demand this Court comply with his every whim."
  • "Plaintiffs also claim hasty issuance of the mandate is necessary to “facilitate the refund process” in cases that are in the CIT already. The coming process will take time. Cf. U.S. Shoe Corp. v. United States, 29 C.I.T. 866 (Ct. Int’l Trade July 27, 2005) (refunds took seven years to fully be provided after United States v. U.S. Shoe Corp., 523 U.S. 360 (1998), even though the amount of money at issue there was substantially less than the amount at issue here."
  • "If anything, the Court should withhold issuance of the mandate for 90 days to allow the political branches an opportunity to consider options."
  • "Complexity in the future counsels appropriately careful process, not breakneck speed. The Court should deny the motion and if anything, withhold the issuance of the mandate for 90 days after the Supreme Court sends down its judgment to this Court"

The government's strategy appears to be to delay repayment as long as possible — until either the political climate shifts or a court forces its hand. To be sure, there are already several bills introduced in Congress but there is no veto proof support for such measures - at least not yet. This means that importers who have paid IEEPA tariffs should not expect voluntary, prompt refunds. Nor should they wait for clarity from the Executive Branch anytime soon. Instead, the path to recovery will likely require continued litigation and a direct court order from the U.S. Court of International Trade and importers should act accordingly.

NOTE: Despite press reports, the government's argument that refunding these tariffs would be complicated or burdensome is simply gaslighting to help in its efforts to refuse refunds. U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) already has pre-built trade remedy reporting tools in its ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) system that can identify exactly how much any importer paid in tariffs — by shipment or in total. In addition, CBP can create (as it did in the Section 301 litigation) specialized reports in ACE to readily identify the amount of IEEPA tariffs paid by importer (since such payments are associated with a "9903" tariff number reported by the importer at the time of importation). Indeed, as the screen shots below show, such reports already exist:

 

 

The same tools used for Section 301, 201, and 232 tariffs can be applied here to identify how much illegal IEEPA tariffs CBP collected from each importer. Technically, refunds are straightforward and CBP has previously issued mass refunds to many importers, such as when the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program historically lapsed and Congress reinstated the program. See here and note this quote (see purple in linked webpage) from the GSP refund process, as an example:

Duty Refunds

A. Automation

Recognizing the impact that retroactive renewal and consequent numerous re-liquidations will have on both importers and CBP, CBP developed a mechanism to facilitate refunds for entries submitted during the lapse period using the Special Program Indicator (SPI) for GSP (with the letter "A," "A+," or "A*") as a prefix to the tariff number. We expect to begin automated processing of these shortly after the effective date.

Emphasis added. The obstacle is political will, not the mechanics of issuing automated refunds.

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin

Temporary 10% Section 122 Duties – Effective February 24, 2026

Implementation of 10% Additional Duty Under Section 122

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following message to provide guidance for the February 20, 2026 Presidential Proclamation imposing a temporary 10% ad valorem duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The additional duties apply to covered imports entered on or after February 24, 2026, and will remain in effect for 150 days unless stated otherwise.

CSMS # 67844987 - Imposing Temporary Section 122 Duties

The purpose of this message is to provide guidance regarding the February 20, 2026 Presidential Proclamation, “Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems,” issued pursuant to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 122), which imposed an additional 10% ad valorem duty on imported articles of every country for a period of 150 days, unless specifically exempt.

GUIDANCE - APPLICATION OF ADDITIONAL DUTY RATES UNDER SECTION 122

For articles that are the product of any country entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on February 24, 2026, and through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on July 24, 2026, the following HTSUS classification and additional duty rate apply under heading 9903.03.01:

  • Except for products described in headings 9903.03.02–9903.03.11, and other than products for personal use included in accompanied baggage of persons arriving in the United States, articles the product of any country, as provided for in subdivision (aa) of U.S. note 2 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS, will be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of 10%

Exemptions

The following HTSUS headings apply to products that are exempted from the additional 10% ad valorem duty under heading 9903.03.01:

9903.03.02: Articles the product of any country that (1) were loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transit prior to entry into the United States, before 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on February 24, 2026; and (2) are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, before 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on February 28, 2026.

9903.03.03: Articles the product of any country, as provided for in subdivision (aa)(ii) of U.S. note 2 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS.

9903.03.04: Articles the product of any country, as provided for in subdivision (aa)(iii) of U.S. note 2 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS. The agricultural products described in subdivision (aa)(iii) are:

  1. Etrogs (classifiable in subheading 0805.90.01);
  2. Tropical fruit, nesoi, frozen, whether or not previously steamed or boiled (classifiable in subheading 0811.90.80);
  3. Date palm branches, Myrtus branches or other vegetable material, for religious purposes only (classifiable in subheading 1404.90.90);
  4. Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and similar baked products nesoi, and puddings, whether or not containing chocolate, fruit, nuts or confectionery, for religious purposes only (classifiable in subheading 1905.90.10);
  5. Bakers’ wares, communion wafers, sealing wafers, rice paper and similar products, nesoi, for religious purposes only (classifiable in subheading 1905.90.90);
  6. Acai (classifiable in subheading 2008.99.21);
  7. Citrus juice of any single citrus fruit (other than orange, grapefruit or lime), of a Brix value not exceeding 20, concentrated, unfermented, except for lemon juice (classifiable in subheading 2009.31.60);
  8. Coconut water or juice of acai (classifiable in subheading 2009.89.70);
  9. Coconut water juice blends, not from concentrate, packaged for retail sale (classifiable in subheading 2009.90.40);
  10. Acai preparations for the manufacture of beverages (classifiable in subheading 2106.90.99); and
  11. Essential oils other than those of citrus fruit, nesoi, for religious purposes only (classifiable in subheading 3301.29.51).

Filers must ensure that all supporting documentation that substantiates the intended use of the product, where applicable, is kept on file for recordkeeping purposes.

9903.03.05: Articles of civil aircraft (all aircraft other than military aircraft); their engines, parts and components; their other parts, components and subassemblies; and ground flight simulators and their parts and components of any country, provided for in subdivision (aa)(iv) of U.S. note 2 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS.

Filers must ensure that all supporting documentation that substantiates the intended use of the product, where applicable, is kept on file for recordkeeping purposes.

9903.03.06: Articles of iron or steel, derivative articles of iron or steel, articles of aluminum, derivative articles of aluminum, passenger vehicles (sedans, sport utility vehicles, crossover utility vehicles, minivans and cargo vans) and light trucks and parts of passenger vehicles and light trucks, semiconductor articles, semi-finished copper and intensive copper derivative products, wood products, or medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and buses or medium- and heavy-duty vehicle parts, of any country, as provided for in subdivision (aa)(v) of U.S. note 2 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS.

9903.03.07: Articles the product of Canada, entered free of duty under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

9903.03.08: Articles the product of Mexico, entered free of duty under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

9903.03.09: Articles of textiles or apparel the product of Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua that meet the rules of origin under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

9903.03.10: Articles that are donations, by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, such as food, clothing and medicine, intended to be used to relieve human suffering.

9903.03.11: Articles that are informational materials, including but not limited to publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilms, microfiche, tapes, compact disks, CD ROMs, artworks and news wire feeds.

Chapter 98

The additional duties imposed by heading 9903.03.01, HTSUS will not apply to goods for which entry is properly claimed under a provision of Chapter 98 of the HTSUS pursuant to applicable regulations issued by CBP, and whenever CBP agrees that entry under such a provision is appropriate, except for goods entered under heading 9802.00.80; and subheadings 9802.00.40, 9802.00.50, and 9802.00.60, HTSUS. For subheadings 9802.00.40, 9802.00.50, and 9802.00.60, HTSUS, the additional duties apply to the value of repairs, alterations, or processing performed, as described in the applicable subheading. For heading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, the additional duties apply to the value of the article assembled abroad, less the cost or value of such products of the United States, as described.

Foreign Trade Zone

Articles subject to the ad valorem duty imposed by the February 20, 2026,  Proclamation, “Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems,” except those that are eligible for admission to a foreign trade zone under “domestic status” as defined in 19 C.F.R. § 146.43, and are admitted into a United States foreign trade zone on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on February 24, 2026, must be admitted as “privileged foreign status” as defined in 19 C.F.R. § 146.41. Such articles will be subject, upon entry for consumption, to the duties imposed by this order and the rates of duty related to the classification under the applicable HTSUS subheading in effect at the time of admission into the United States foreign trade zone.

Drawback

Drawback is available with respect to the additional duties imposed pursuant to the February 20, 2026, Proclamation “Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems.”

HTS Sequence

When submitting an entry summary in which a heading or subheading in Chapter 98 and/or 99 is claimed on imported merchandise, the following instructions will apply for the order of reporting the HTS on an entry summary line.

  1. Chapter 98 (if applicable)
  2. Chapter 99 number(s) for additional duties (if applicable)
  3. For trade remedies,
    • First report the Chapter 99 HTS for Section 301,
    • Followed by the Chapter 99 HTS for Section 122,
    • Followed by the Chapter 99 HTS for Section 232
    • Followed by the Chapter 99 HTS for Section 201 duties (if applicable),
    • Followed by the Chapter 99 HTS for Section 201 quota (if applicable).
  4. Chapter 99 number(s) for REPLACEMENT duty or other use (i.e., Miscellaneous Tariff Bill or other provisions)
  5. Chapter 99 number for other quota (not covered by #3) (if applicable)
  6. Chapter 1 to 97 Commodity Tariff

The entered value of the imported product reported on the entry summary line should be reported on the Chapter 1-97 HTS classification, unless Chapter 98 reporting provisions require the entered value to be reported differently.

CBP will provide additional guidance to the trade community through CSMS messages as appropriate.

If you encounter any errors in filing an entry summary, contact your CBP client representative or the ACE Help Desk.

Questions regarding this message should be directed to CBP’s Office of Trade Relations at traderelations@cbp.dhs.gov.

If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Stay Updated on Customs Compliance

by IAB Admin