Tariff Refund Deadline by Entry Liquidation Date: 5 Dates Importers Must Pull for Every IEEPA Entry

When Does CBP Liquidate My Entry? About 314 Days After the Entry Date

What the rule says

• The one-year limit: Under 19 U.S.C. 1504, an entry that CBP has not liquidated within one year of the entry date is treated as liquidated, unless CBP extends or suspends liquidation.
• The usual schedule: CBP typically liquidates an entry about 314 days after the entry date. That is a planning figure, not a legal deadline.
• The real date: Each entry’s actual liquidation date is posted in ACE, where your team can pull it (or your broker, if you use one). That date, not an estimate, starts every refund window on this page.
• Suspended liquidation: CBP can suspend liquidation. On October 8, 2026, USTR directed the Treasury Secretary to suspend liquidation of unliquidated entries from the GLM Components plant in Puebla, Mexico, under the USMCA labor mechanism. A suspended entry’s clock does not start until CBP lifts the suspension.

My take on this

• The IEEPA tariffs ran from February 2025 until the Supreme Court ruling in February 2026.
• Add 314 days and you get the liquidation wave importers are living through right now.
• An entry from mid-December 2025 is due to liquidate in late October 2026.
• The entries most at risk this quarter are the newest ones, because everyone assumed they had time.

Procurement Action

• Pull an ACE report of every entry from February 2025 to February 2026 that carried an IEEPA Chapter 99 line, with entry date, liquidation date, and liquidation status.
• Flag every entry that liquidated in the last 80 days, and every entry due to liquidate in the next 60.
• Note any entry with suspended or extended liquidation separately, because its clock is not running yet.

GovInfo: 19 U.S.C. 1504, limitation on liquidation
eCFR: 19 CFR 159.11, entries not liquidated within one year
USTR: United States seeks Mexico’s review of alleged denial of workers’ rights at GLM Components Mexico (October 8, 2026)
Career Chronicles briefing, October 9, 2026 (GLM Components suspension of liquidation)

How Long Do I Have After Liquidation? 80 Days for CAPE, 180 Days for a Protest

What the rule says

• The 80-day CAPE cutoff: CAPE Phase 1 opened April 20, 2026 for certain IEEPA entries that are unliquidated or liquidated within the last 80 days. Phase 2 opened June 29, 2026 for entries flagged for reconciliation, with the same 80-day limit.
• Why 80 days: CBP can reliquidate on its own within 90 days of liquidation under 19 U.S.C. 1501. Past that point it needs a court order, so CAPE treats an entry liquidated more than 80 days ago as finally liquidated.
• The 180-day protest deadline: A protest under 19 U.S.C. 1514 is due 180 days after the entry liquidated. CBP has no authority to accept a late protest, and there is no extension.
• An open question: Counsel commentary notes it is not fully settled whether a protest is a valid route for IEEPA duties. Several firms still recommend a protective protest inside the 180 days because it is inexpensive and does not hurt a court case.
• CAPE, not a PSC: Since April 20, 2026, CAPE has been CBP’s administrative route for IEEPA refunds, and a Post-Summary Correction cannot start one. CBP also lets an importer withdraw an IEEPA-only protest and move the entry into CAPE while it is still within 80 days of liquidation.

My take on this

• Entry 2 is the one I would worry about.
• It looks fine on a list of “IEEPA refunds to file,” and in five weeks it moves from a free online filing to a court case.
• If your list does not show the days since liquidation for each entry, it is not telling you which ones are urgent.

Procurement Action

• Calculate two dates for every liquidated IEEPA entry: liquidation date plus 80 days and liquidation date plus 180 days.
• File every entry inside the 80-day window in CAPE first, oldest liquidation date first.
• For entries between day 81 and day 180, take the protest question and the court question to customs counsel this month.

CBP CSMS #68397554: CAPE for IEEPA refunds available now (April 20, 2026)
CBP CSMS #68340863: CAPE for IEEPA refunds, update on scope, PSCs, protests, ACH and timing (April 13, 2026)
CBP CSMS #69066837: CAPE deployed for entries flagged for reconciliation (June 29, 2026)
GovInfo: 19 U.S.C. 1501, voluntary reliquidation within 90 days
GovInfo: 19 U.S.C. 1514, protest against decisions of CBP
Whether a protest is a valid route for IEEPA duties is discussed in counsel commentary (Troutman Pepper Locke, August 13, 2026; Ayar Law, April 20, 2026).

Did the Supreme Court’s February 20, 2026 IEEPA Ruling Stop the Liquidation Clock?

What happened

• The ruling: On February 20, 2026, in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the Supreme Court held that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs.
• What it did not do: The ruling did not pause liquidation or extend any protest deadline. CBP kept liquidating entries on its normal schedule.
• The court order that followed: On March 4, 2026, the Court of International Trade issued a universal refund order. On June 3, 2026, the government appealed the part of the court‘s refund orders requiring liquidation or reliquidation of all affected entries to the Federal Circuit (No. 26-1895), and that appeal is still pending.

My take on this

• This is the mistake I warned about in December, now with a real cost attached.
• Importers who waited for “the ruling” to tell them what to do watched entries liquidate and age past 80 days while they waited.
• The ruling settled whether the money was owed. It never changed how long you had to ask for it.

Procurement Action

• Drop any internal deadline that is tied to a court date. Replace it with each entry’s liquidation date.
• Treat any future tariff ruling the same way: the entry clock keeps running while the court decides.

Supreme Court: Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, No. 24-1287, opinion (PDF, February 20, 2026)
Court of International Trade: Slip Op. 26-123, Freestyle World, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, class certification (PDF, October 8, 2026)

My IEEPA Entry Has Not Liquidated Yet. Should I File in CAPE Now?

What the rule says

• Open to everyone: Any importer of record can file an unliquidated IEEPA entry in CAPE, either in-house or through a broker. No lawsuit is needed.
• How refunds are paid: CAPE refunds go out by ACH only. CBP stopped issuing paper refund checks, with limited exceptions, on February 6, 2026.
• Money waiting on paperwork: CBP’s October 6, 2026 court declaration reported about $136.6 billion in refunds accepted for processing in CAPE and about $126 billion in duties plus interest already refunded. An earlier CBP declaration, as summarized by trade counsel, put about $1.3 billion on hold because importers had not supplied ACH banking details.
• Timing: CBP says valid refunds are generally issued within 60 to 90 days after it accepts a CAPE declaration.

My take on this

• An unliquidated entry is the easiest refund you will ever file, and it stays easy only until it liquidates.
• I would not hold these back to “batch them” with older entries.
• File them, and get the ACH setup confirmed first so the money does not sit in that $1.3 billion pile.

Procurement Action

• Confirm your ACE portal account and ACH refund enrollment for every importer of record number you use.
• File every unliquidated IEEPA entry in CAPE, starting with the entries closest to their liquidation date.
• Record four separate statuses for finance: estimated, declaration accepted, refund certified, and cash received.

CBP CSMS #68340863: CAPE for IEEPA refunds, update on scope, PSCs, protests, ACH and timing (April 13, 2026)
Federal Register: CBP interim final rule, electronic refunds (FR 2025-24171, effective February 6, 2026)
Court of International Trade: Slip Op. 26-123, Freestyle World, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, class certification (PDF, October 8, 2026)
The $1.3 billion ACH hold figure is reported by Corporate International (September 17, 2026).
Career Chronicles: CAPE refund recovery guide, prerequisites and filing steps

My Entry Liquidated More Than 80 Days Ago. Can I Still Use CAPE Phase 3?

What the rule says

• Phase 3 is live: CBP opened CAPE Phase 3 on October 6, 2026 for finally liquidated IEEPA entries.
• Plaintiffs only: Phase 3 is limited to importers that sued at the Court of International Trade and hold a reliquidation order covering those entries. On July 15, 2026, Judge Richard K. Eaton ordered reliquidation for plaintiffs’ finally liquidated entries, and the court keeps granting orders in individual cases.
• The July 30 group: Plaintiffs whose importer of record number was given to CBP by July 30, 2026 can file at launch. Later plaintiffs must wait for further CBP instructions.
• Size: Phase 3 refunds are estimated at about $11.4 billion, roughly 6.9% of the total, per Supply Chain Dive as cited by Corporate International.
• The suit deadline: Refund suits under 28 U.S.C. 1581(i) generally carry a two-year limit under 28 U.S.C. 2636(i). The start date is debated, and counsel commentary warns some entries could run out as early as February 2027.

My take on this

• For a finally liquidated entry, “file in CAPE” is no longer a business decision. It is a legal one.
• My job as a procurement person is to hand counsel a clean list: every finally liquidated entry, its duty, its liquidation date, and which importer of record number it sits on.
• A sister company that never sued has its own answer, even on the same goods.

Procurement Action

• List every IEEPA entry liquidated more than 80 days ago, with duty paid and importer of record number.
• For entries still inside 180 days, ask counsel about a protective protest this month.
• Get a written decision from counsel on whether to sue before the two-year limit, with the earliest expiring entry named.

Court of International Trade: Slip Op. 26-123, Freestyle World, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, class certification (PDF, October 8, 2026)
GovInfo: 28 U.S.C. 2636, time for commencement of action
The July 30 group, the $11.4 billion Phase 3 estimate and the February 2027 timing are reported by Corporate International (September 17, 2026), Supply Chain Dive and Troutman Pepper Locke (August 13, 2026).

I Never Sued. Does the October 8, 2026 Class Certification Cover My IEEPA Entries?

What is settled

• The case: On October 8, 2026, Judge Richard K. Eaton of the Court of International Trade certified a class in Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States, No. 26-01088.
• Who is in it: Importers of record that paid IEEPA duties between February 1, 2025 and February 19, 2026 and did not file their own refund suits, including those with finally liquidated entries, per the court’s October 8 opinion.
• How membership works: The class was certified under the court’s Rule 23(b)(2), so membership is mandatory, with no opt-in and no opt-out, per the court’s opinion.

What no one has said yet

• A refund order: The court did not order immediate refunds. Further orders will decide how relief works.
• The appeal: The government’s Federal Circuit appeal of the court’s universal refund orders argues, according to counsel summaries, that the court cannot order refunds for importers that did not sue. If that argument wins, non-plaintiffs with finally liquidated entries may have no route back.
• A CAPE door: Nothing yet opens CAPE Phase 3 to class members.

My take on this

• The class keeps non-plaintiffs in the game. It does not put money in the bank.
• I would not book a dollar of recovery from it, and I would not let it replace a decision about suing before the two-year limit.

Procurement Action

• Confirm the details CBP holds for each importer of record number (Form 5106 name, address, and EIN) are current, so a future order can reach you.
• Keep every finally liquidated entry on your list with its duty and liquidation date, marked “class, pending.”
• Put the Federal Circuit appeal on your calendar as the event to watch.

Court of International Trade: Slip Op. 26-123, Freestyle World, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, class certification (PDF, October 8, 2026)
Court of International Trade: IEEPA refund class action litigation notice (October 8, 2026)
Career Chronicles briefing, October 9, 2026: CAPE Phase 3 and the class action

Which Other 2026 Tariff Refunds Depend on the Liquidation Date?

• Section 122 surcharge: The 10% surcharge ran from February 24 until it expired on July 24, 2026. A divided Court of International Trade held on May 7, 2026 that it exceeded the authority Congress granted, and the Federal Circuit stayed that ruling on May 12, 2026 while the appeal proceeds (State of Oregon v. Trump, No. 26-1804). Any refund would reach duties already paid.
• Section 301 forced labor tariffs: In force since July 24, 2026 on imports from 60 economies. The challenges are consolidated at the Court of International Trade, which heard argument on September 30, 2026. No decision has issued.
• Aluminum can stock AD/CVD: Commerce’s September 24, 2026 partial revocation reaches qualifying unliquidated entries only. An entry that already liquidated is outside the relief.

My take on this

• The IEEPA lesson applies three more times this year.
• If one of these tariffs is struck down or refunded, the unliquidated entries will be the easy ones and the liquidated ones will be the fight.
• Keep the liquidation date and protest deadline on every entry now, while it is still a data task and not a legal one.

Procurement Action

• Keep one row per entry for Section 122, Section 301 forced labor, and AD/CVD deposits, with liquidation date and protest deadline.
• Book no savings from a pending court case until a refund order is published.

Court of International Trade: Slip Op. 26-47, Section 122 surcharge ruling (PDF, May 7, 2026)
Federal Register: USTR notice of actions in the Section 301 forced labor investigations (FR 2026-15181, July 28, 2026)
Federal Register: common alloy aluminum sheet, final results and partial revocation for can stock (FR 2026-19516, September 24, 2026)
The consolidated forced labor cases and the September 30 argument are reported by Carter Ledyard & Milburn (October 8, 2026).
Career Chronicles: every tariff change in September 2026, including the can stock revocation