CIT Presses Government on Finally Liquidated IEEPA Refund Entries

In a May 27 order in Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. v. United States, Judge Richard K. Eaton said the court was “particularly concerned about the millions of informal entries where liquidation was simultaneous, or nearly simultaneous, with the time of entry, and for which the liquidation is now final.” The court added that, “to date, the Government has not presented a proposal as to how to address these entries.”

The order follows the court’s broader refund directives after the Supreme Court held that IEEPA did not authorize the challenged tariffs. Judge Eaton’s April 7 Euro-Notions order directed CBP to liquidate unliquidated entries without IEEPA duties, reliquidate non-final liquidated entries without those duties, and reliquidate finally liquidated entries without regard to IEEPA duties. The court suspended immediate compliance while CBP implemented CAPE.

The Justice Department on May 29 appealed the Court’s IEEPA refund order, escalating a dispute over whether Customs must refund unlawfully collected emergency tariffs to all affected importers or only to those that sued.

CBP launched CAPE Phase 1 on April 20 to process refund claims through ACE. CBP guidance describes CAPE as an automated mechanism to consolidate refunds and interest payments, rather than issue entry-by-entry refunds. Phase 1, however, has focused on entries CBP can address under existing administrative authority, leaving the finally liquidated universe unresolved.

James Kim, an international trade partner at ArentFox Schiff, said the May 27 order “finally [said] the quiet part out loud” about “what’s going on with CAPE Phase 2 and entries that are finally liquidated,” particularly entries beyond the 90-day reliquidation period.

Kim said the dispute may now move to the legal question whether the CIT can order universal refund relief. “CAPE Phase 1 covers entries CBP can already touch under its own statutory authority,” he wrote, “but finally liquidated entries can only be reopened for refund via a universal order, which Judge Eaton has issued under the view that the CIT is a court of ‘national geographic jurisdiction.’”

“If there is an appeal,” Kim added., “I fully expect it to center around the CASA limitation on universal injunctions and whether or not it applies to the CIT.”  The government’s May 29 filing makes that appeal no longer hypothetical.

The issue is operationally significant for importers whose IEEPA entries liquidated immediately or are now beyond CBP’s ordinary reliquidation window. The court’s concern suggests CAPE Phase 2 may need to address not merely system capacity, but the government’s position on whether non-litigant importers with final liquidations are entitled to refunds absent individualized court orders.

In a companion May 27 order to show cause in V.O.S. Selections, Judge Eaton directed the CBP commissioner to appear at a June 9 hearing to address the timing of Customs’ compliance with the court’s refund order.

Practitioner Perspective: 

Husch Blackwell: CIT Orders Customs to Explain Its Position on Issuing IEEPA Refunds for All Entries Regardless of Liquidation Status

05/29/26 Update with appeal info.