By Dan Neumann
Following the February Supreme Court ruling, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has released the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) functionality in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), or Customs portal. This is intended to provide an expedited reimbursement process for reimbursement of IEEPA tariffs paid since February of 2025.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling and subsequent requirements from lower courts, the CAPE program will allow importers of record to file refund requests with only the following requirements:
- Importers of Record and authorized Customs brokers have an established ACE Secure Data Portal account (ACE Portal account)
- Recipients use the ACE Portal account to provide CBP with bank account information
- Importers of Record and authorized Customs brokers submit CAPE Declarations in the ACE Portal (See below for details)
The first round of refunds launched on April 20. For importers of record that have not enrolled in electronic refunds, CBP’s instructions can be found here.