$44 Billion in IEEPA Refunds Still Unclaimed — and Phase 3 Has a Catch

Seven months after the Supreme Court struck down IEEPA tariffs, CBP has returned $122 billion to importers — but $44 billion is still sitting in government accounts. CAPE Phase 3 launches October 6, and if you haven't filed a lawsuit, you may not qualify. Here's what you need to know right now.

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court did something that hadn't happened in modern trade law: it told a sitting president that an entire tariff regime was illegal. In a 6-3 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — an economic sanctions law — simply does not give the president the power to impose tariffs. Full stop.

The scale of the fallout is staggering. Between April 2025 and February 2026, roughly 330,000 importers paid approximately $166 billion in IEEPA duties across more than 53 million entries. Every dollar of that was collected under authority the Supreme Court said never existed.

CBP has been returning that money through a system called CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries) since April 20, 2026. As of September 11, 2026, about $122 billion has been certified and sent to Treasury for disbursement — roughly 73% of the total pool. That sounds like progress. But here's the part that should worry you: if your money is in the remaining $44 billion, getting it back just got significantly more complicated.

The Three Phases of Getting Your Money Back

CBP didn't flip a switch and refund everyone at once. The CAPE refund process has rolled out in stages, each covering a different category of entries:

Phase 1 was the straightforward bucket — entries where CBP still had administrative authority to act. If your entries hadn't been liquidated yet, or were liquidated recently enough that the protest window was still open, CBP could process your refund without a court order.

Phase 2 extended eligibility to reconciliation entries — a smaller but important category for importers who use CBP's reconciliation program for value, classification, or 9802 claims.

Phase 3, launching October 6, is where it gets tricky.

Why Phase 3 Is Different From Everything Before

Here's the critical distinction: for entries that have been finally liquidated for more than 80 days, CBP says it cannot reopen them without a specific court order. There's no administrative workaround. No protest process. No exception.

Brandon Lord, CBP's Executive Director of Trade Programs, stated in a September 15, 2026 declaration to the Court of International Trade (CIT) that Phase 3 will only be available to importers of record who are plaintiffs with a pending IEEPA refund case before the CIT. That means if you didn't file a lawsuit, you're locked out of Phase 3.

This isn't a small technicality. CBP's position is that it lacks the unilateral legal authority to reliquidate entries beyond the standard protest window. Only a court-ordered reliquidation can unlock those funds. And right now, the only importers with court orders are the ones who sued.

Who Qualifies for Phase 3 — and Who Doesn't

The eligibility requirements are narrow:

You qualify for Phase 3 if:

• You are an importer of record (not a consignee or notify party)
• You have an active IEEPA refund case pending at the CIT
• Your case resulted in (or will result in) a court-ordered reliquidation
• You submitted a valid IOR number to CBP by July 30, 2026

You do NOT qualify for Phase 3 if:

• You have no CIT litigation pending
• You relied solely on the administrative CAPE process for all your entries
• You missed the July 30, 2026 IOR submission deadline (though CBP says additional instructions are coming for late filers)

If you submitted your IOR number after the July 30 deadline, CBP has indicated it will provide additional instructions — but hasn't said when. If you're in this category, don't wait for those instructions to arrive on their own. Contact CBP's trade programs office directly.

The Small Importer Problem

Here's something the headline numbers don't show: the refund process has disproportionately favored large importers.

The Cato Institute flagged this in a June 2026 analysis. As of late June, CBP had approved refunds covering nearly 60% of the government's total dollar obligations — but those refunds covered only 30% of all import entries on which IEEPA tariffs were paid. In other words, the biggest importers with the most sophisticated customs operations and legal teams got their money first. Smaller firms — the ones less likely to have ACE Portal accounts set up, less likely to have customs attorneys on retainer, and less likely to file CIT lawsuits — are still waiting.

For Phase 3, this gap will widen. Filing a lawsuit at the Court of International Trade isn't free. It requires trade litigation counsel, court filing fees, and the administrative burden of managing a case. Many small and mid-size importers who paid IEEPA duties on finally liquidated entries never filed because they assumed the administrative process would eventually cover them.

Whether that assumption holds is now an open legal question.

The Litigation That Could Change Everything

CBP's position — that non-litigating importers can't get Phase 3 refunds — is being challenged in court.

Earlier in 2026, CIT Judge Richard Eaton ordered CBP to refund all importers of record who paid IEEPA duties, not just those with pending lawsuits. CBP largely complied for Phases 1 and 2 (unliquidated and recently liquidated entries). But the federal government appealed the portion of Judge Eaton's order that required CBP to refund non-litigating importers for finally liquidated entries — the exact category Phase 3 covers.

That appeal is now pending before the Federal Circuit. If the government wins, Phase 3 stays limited to CIT plaintiffs. If the government loses, CBP may be forced to open Phase 3 to all importers regardless of litigation status.

The timing matters. There's no guaranteed resolution date for the appeal, and Phase 3 launches October 6 whether the appeal is resolved or not. Importers without CIT cases can't afford to wait and hope — they need to understand their options now.

The $25 Billion Nobody Is Talking About

Even after Phase 3 launches, there's another pool of IEEPA refunds that doesn't fit neatly into any phase. According to CBP's own filings, approximately $25 billion in IEEPA duties are tied to entries that fall outside the current CAPE framework:

• Entries subject to antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD)
• Entries with active drawback claims
• Entries with pending administrative protests
• Entries not filed through ACE (yes, some still exist)

CBP has not provided a timeline for processing these entries. If your IEEPA-dutiable entries overlap with AD/CVD orders or you've filed drawback claims, your refund situation is more complex than the standard CAPE process can handle — and there's no published guidance on when or how CBP will address it.

How to File Your Phase 3 CAPE Declaration

If you do qualify for Phase 3, here's exactly how the filing process works:

1. Log into the ACE Secure Data Portal — You need an active ACE Portal account. If you don't have one, apply at CBP's ACE Portal page immediately. Account setup can take days to weeks.

2. Navigate to the CAPE tab — Within your importer or broker account, you'll find the CAPE tab with an Upload button.

3. Download the CAPE Upload Template — CBP provides an Excel template. Fill it with your entry numbers (up to 9,999 per declaration).

4. Save as .CSV — The template must be saved as a comma-separated values file. Only entry numbers are required — no other entry-related data.

5. Upload and submit — Check the acknowledgment box confirming you're legally authorized to file, then upload. You'll receive a CAPE claim number once validated.

6. Submit additional declarations — If you have more than 9,999 entries, submit additional CSV files. There's no limit on the number of declarations.

Important: Only the importer of record or the customs broker who originally filed the entry summaries can submit the CAPE declaration. You can't use a new broker for this — it must be the broker of record.

Five Things Every Importer Should Do Before October 6

Whether you qualify for Phase 3 or not, here's your action list:

1. Audit your entry portfolio — Identify every entry on which you paid IEEPA duties. Cross-reference against CAPE claim numbers to determine which entries have been refunded, which are pending, and which are finally liquidated beyond 80 days. Your broker should be able to pull this from ACE.

2. Check your CIT litigation status — If you filed a lawsuit, confirm it's active and that your IOR number was submitted to CBP by July 30. If you submitted late, prepare to follow up with CBP for Phase 3 instructions.

3. Talk to a trade attorney about filing at the CIT — If you have significant finally liquidated entries and no pending lawsuit, the math may favor filing now. CIT litigation timelines for fentanyl tariff entries open no earlier than February 3, 2027, and reciprocal tariff entries no earlier than April 6, 2027. Don't assume you've missed your window.

4. Verify your ACE Portal and ACH enrollment — Refunds are disbursed via ACH through the Treasury. If you're not enrolled in ACH refunds through your ACE Portal account, do it now. Paper checks from Treasury can take months.

5. Flag AD/CVD and drawback overlaps — If any of your IEEPA-dutiable entries are also subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, or have active drawback claims, set those aside for separate handling. The standard CAPE process won't cover them.

What to Watch Next

The next 90 days will determine how the remaining $44 billion gets distributed:

• October 6: CAPE Phase 3 goes live for CIT plaintiffs
• Q4 2026: Federal Circuit ruling on whether non-litigating importers can access Phase 3 refunds
• February 3, 2027: Earliest CIT filing date for fentanyl tariff refund cases
• April 6, 2027: Earliest CIT filing date for reciprocal tariff refund cases
• TBD: CBP guidance on the $25B in AD/CVD, drawback, and non-ACE entries

If you've already received your Phase 1 or Phase 2 refund, congratulations — you're in the 73% of dollars returned. But if you're part of the remaining 27%, the clock is ticking and the path is narrower than it was six months ago.

The Bottom Line

The IEEPA refund process is the largest tariff reimbursement in U.S. history, and CBP deserves credit for returning $122 billion in seven months. But the hardest dollars are the last dollars. Phase 3's litigation requirement means thousands of importers with legitimate refund claims are watching from the sidelines while the legal system sorts out whether they'll ever see their money.

Don't be passive about this. Whether it's filing a CIT case, auditing your entry portfolio, or just making sure your ACE account is in order, every week you wait is a week your money sits in a government account earning interest for Treasury instead of you. Tools like TariffLens can help you quickly identify which of your entries are IEEPA-dutiable and track their refund status across all three CAPE phases.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or customs advice. Consult a licensed customs broker or trade attorney for guidance specific to your situation.