CBP Outlines 45-Day Roadmap for IEEPA Refunds
The machinery behind the court, ordered IEEPA tariff refunds is finally starting to move. In a significant filing to the Court of International Trade on March 6, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that while they aren't ready to process payments today, a technical roadmap is now in place. CBP anticipates having the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) programmed and ready to handle these specific refunds within the next 45 days.
This delay is a strategic attempt to avoid a logistical "mess." Rather than issuing over 53 million separate, entry, specific refunds, CBP is developing a streamlined process to consolidate payments by importer. This functionality will bundle refunds and interest payments, making the recovery process much cleaner for your accounting teams.
The New ACE Workflow
According to the filing signed by Brandon Lord, Executive Director for the CBP Office of Trade, the anticipated process will follow a specific set of steps within the ACE portal:
Importer Declaration: You will be required to file a declaration in ACE that includes a comprehensive list of all entries where IEEPA duties were paid.
Automated Validation: ACE will run validations on each entry and automatically recalculate the duty owed without the IEEPA tariffs, adding any applicable interest.
Verification & Certification: Once CBP verifies the declaration and certifies the refund, the Department of the Treasury will issue the payment electronically.
System Finalization: ACE will then automatically finalize the liquidation or reliquidation of the entries.
What This Means for Your Timeline
While the 45-day window is for system programming, the agency implied that actually completing the refunds for all affected importers could still take months. However, the legal mandate is clear. Following the March 4 court order, CBP must now liquidate unliquidated entries and reliquidate any that aren't yet final without the IEEPA duties.
At Shiptech, we are monitoring these technical updates daily and are here to help you navigate this paperwork to ensure your refund stays on track.