By: Brandon French, Senior Associate and Heather Tschirhart, Law Clerk, Braumiller Law Group
Background
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Learning Res., Inc. v. Trump, 607 U.S. 229, 255 (2026). The Supreme Court did not itself order refunds; the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) did, including an April 17 order directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to liquidate unliquidated IEEPA entries without those duties and to reliquidate liquidated entries without them, while suspending immediate compliance. Order at 3, V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States, No. 25-00066, ECF No. 82 (Ct. Int’l Trade Apr. 17, 2026). CBP deployed Phase 1 of its Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) functionality in ACE on April 20 for certain unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days, and Phase 2 followed on June 29 for entries flagged for reconciliation for which no Type 09 reconciliation entry had been filed. CBP, CSMS #68340863; CSMS #69066837.
The Appeal and the Court’s Response
The government’s appeal challenges the CIT’s universal injunctions in Nos. 2026-1895, -1897, and -1899; No. 2026-1898 was dismissed. It argues that Trump v. CASA, Inc., 606 U.S. 831 (2025), bars relief for nonparties and that CBP cannot independently reliquidate entries after its 90-day authority under 19 U.S.C. § 1501 expires. The government has not appealed importer-specific reliquidation orders and says it will comply with them. Thus, the appeal primarily concerns finally liquidated entries of importers who have not sued.
Judge Eaton previously rejected the government’s CASA position, citing the CIT’s exclusive national jurisdiction and the Constitution’s Uniformity Clause. On July 17, 2026, the CIT entered an order for more than 3,700 pending IEEPA cases directing CBP to reliquidate plaintiffs’ entries that have been liquidated for more than 80 days, which reaches both finally liquidated entries and entries that will become final while in CAPE processing.
Who Phase 3 Covers
CBP says Phase 3 covers importers whose entries have already been finalized and whose cases have resulted in a court order requiring CBP to issue refunds. So far, the only confirmed way to qualify for this relief is for an importer to file its own case and obtain a court order. Importers that have not sued do not currently have a confirmed path to Phase 3.
Two pending requests to bring these claims as class actions could change that. Terry Precision Cycling, a plaintiff in the V.O.S. case, is asking the court to include other importers with IEEPA claims that cannot currently be processed through CAPE. Freestyle World is seeking a class covering certain importers who paid the disputed duties, except those that have already filed their own refund cases.
Where Phase 3 Stands
After pausing the rollout, CBP has now set October 6, 2026, for Phase 3 deployment. On August 25, CBP told the CIT that it needed more time to add safeguards to ensure that only IEEPA refunds are made to finalized entries and to address errors in how IEEPA duties were originally reported. Plaintiffs with a valid importer-of-record number submitted by July 30 may file Phase 3 declarations beginning October 6; CBP will provide additional instructions for later submissions.
After the September 16 conference, the CIT ordered a short report on the CAPE progress, due October 6, followed by a closed settlement conference October 7. The October 6 launch date is CBP’s representation to the court, not a court-ordered deadline, and CBP has already delayed Phase 3 once.
Meanwhile, CBP reported significant progress in processing refunds. As of September 11, more than 286,000 declarations had been submitted, covering 27.2 million entries that passed file validation. More than $134 billion in potential and certified refunds had been accepted for processing, with approximately $122 billion sent to Treasury. About 20,184 refunds totaling $1.3 billion remained on hold because required ACH information was missing.
CBP also reported 6.1 million entries failing validation, most commonly because they fell outside CBP’s 90-day authority, lacked the required IEEPA Chapter 99 number, or had already been included in an earlier declaration.
What the October 6 Launch Means for Importers
With Phase 3 now scheduled for October 6, importers have a short window to clean up their entry data and identify potentially affected entries before filing begins. CBP says it is building additional checks to make sure Phase 3 refunds correct only IEEPA duties and do not inadvertently change other duties on finally liquidated entries.
Importers should use the time before October 6 to:
- Review IEEPA reporting on original entries, including missing or incorrect Chapter 99 reporting.
- Identify finally liquidated entries with other duty issues, such as AD/CVD, Section 232, Section 301, classification, or valuation issues.
- Check their liquidation dates and assess exposure on entries that may need a separate legal strategy.
- Confirm ACH information is up to date so refunds are not held up.
- Preserve applicable protest or litigation options, particularly for significant finally liquidated exposure.
CBP has not yet published the specific Phase 3 validation rules, so some of these steps are precautionary rather than announced requirements.
Braumiller Law Group will continue to monitor the Federal Circuit appeal, the pending class-certification motions, and CBP’s CAPE progress reports. To discuss IEEPA refund strategy or the filing of a CIT action, please contact brandon@braumillerlaw.com or bob@braumillerlaw.com.
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