Brandon Lord filed a fourth sworn declaration today (Document 51, Court No. 26-01259) — the most detailed filing to date at nine pages. As of March 30, 2026, CAPE component completion stands at:

• Claim Portal (where importers/brokers submit refund requests via CSV file upload): 85% complete (up from 73%) — majority of core development complete, critical testing underway
• Mass Processing (automated removal of IEEPA HTS codes and duty recalculation): 60% complete (up from 45%) — significant development of entry summary processing capabilities, including ability for CBP to review and adjudicate CAPE Declarations and modify entry summaries
• Review & Liquidation/Reliquidation (automated scheduling and interest calculation): 80% complete (unchanged) — testing continues across various entry summary scenarios; further development dependent on other CAPE components
• Refund (electronic payment to designated bank accounts): 75% complete (up from 63%) — majority of Phase 1 development complete, focus has shifted to critical pre-deployment testing

Phase 1 scope expanded. CBP has broadened what CAPE Phase 1 will accept:

• Entries with ACE liquidation status of "Suspended," "Extended," or "Under Review" — now included (previously excluded). CAPE will remove the IEEPA HTS codes and recalculate duties, but will not liquidate or refund these entries until they are liquidated in the normal course.
• AD/CVD entries — now included. CAPE will accept these on a CAPE Declaration and remove the IEEPA duties, but will not liquidate until Commerce lifts the suspension and issues liquidation instructions.
• Warehouse and warehouse withdrawal entries — now included. CAPE will remove the IEEPA HTS codes, but liquidation will proceed in the normal course after all withdrawals are complete.

CBP does not expect these expansions to delay Phase 1 delivery.

Phase 1 scope limited on final liquidations. In response to Judge Eaton's March 27 order requiring refunds on finally liquidated entries, CBP states it cannot include those entries in Phase 1 and still meet the April 19 timeline. Phase 1 will process only unliquidated entries and entries within the 90-day voluntary reliquidation period under 19 U.S.C. § 1501. CBP estimates this covers approximately 63% of all entries for which IEEPA duties were paid or deposited. Finally liquidated entries will be addressed in a subsequent phase.

Still excluded from Phase 1: entries flagged for reconciliation (including Entry Type 09), entries designated on a drawback claim, entries covered by an open protest, entries not filed in ACE or without ACE liquidation status, and AD/CVD entries where Commerce has already issued liquidation instructions pending liquidation under 19 U.S.C. § 1504(d).

Processing timeline: CBP will take up to 45 days from its acceptance of a CAPE Declaration to review and liquidate the validated entry summaries, unless compliance concerns require further review.

ACE Portal enrollment improving. As of March 26, 26,664 importers of record have completed the process to receive electronic refunds — up from 21,423 as of March 6. Those 26,664 IORs account for 78% of all entries for which IEEPA duties were paid, representing approximately $120 billion in principal IEEPA duty payments and deposits.

Subsequent phases will add capabilities for reconciliation and drawback entries, complex interest calculations, finally liquidated entries, non-ABI entries, and enhanced compliance and financial reporting tools. CBP will issue additional guidance as each phase is developed.

Judge Eaton issued a further amended order (Document 50, Court No. 26-01259) that explicitly broadens the scope of the IEEPA refund directive. The order now covers three distinct categories of entries:

• Unliquidated entries — to be liquidated without IEEPA duties
• Liquidated entries where liquidation is not final — to be reliquidated without IEEPA duties
• Liquidated entries where liquidation is final — to be reliquidated without IEEPA duties

This is a significant clarification. The original order directed CBP to liquidate IEEPA-affected entries without those duties, but did not explicitly address entries where liquidation had already become final. The March 27 order removes that ambiguity — the court is directing CBP to reverse IEEPA duties across the board, regardless of liquidation status.

The order includes a carve-out: it does not address duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. § 1321, noting that issue is before the court separately in Axle of Dearborn, Inc. v. Department of Commerce et al. (Case No. 1:25-cv-00091-3JP).

The suspension of the order continues — CBP is not required to comply immediately while CAPE development proceeds. 

Brandon Lord filed a third sworn declaration today (Document 47, Court No. 26-01259) providing updated completion figures for CBP's CAPE refund system as of March 19, 2026:

• Claim Portal (where importers/brokers submit refund requests via CSV file upload): 73% complete — testing underway on substantially developed capabilities
• Mass Processing (automated removal of IEEPA HTS codes and duty recalculation): 45% complete — ACE validations and event history tracking in active development; CBP plans to complete remaining validations and begin testing within the next week
• Review & Liquidation/Reliquidation (automated scheduling and interest calculation): 80% complete — liquidation/reliquidation testing has begun; additional development dependent on progress of other CAPE components
• Refund (electronic payment to designated bank accounts): 63% complete — CAPE-specific refund processing complete within ACE Collections framework; refund consolidation testing underway

CBP noted that the Mass Processing validation function will identify entries that cannot be processed in Phase 1 of CAPE due to requirements external to the IEEPA refund process — such as entries subject to an AD/CVD order where Commerce has instructed CBP to suspend liquidation. CBP is also building event history tracking to maintain a structured audit trail on entry summaries updated through CAPE.

CBP's next court-ordered progress report is due March 26, 2026.

Brandon Lord filed a second sworn declaration today (Document 39, Court No. 26-01259) providing a component-by-component progress report on CBP's new IEEPA refund system, now formally named CAPE — Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. As of March 11, 2026, CBP reported the following development status for CAPE's four components:

• Claim Portal (where importers/brokers submit refund requests via CSV file upload): 70% complete
• Mass Processing (automated removal of IEEPA HTS codes and duty recalculation): 40% complete
• Review & Liquidation/Reliquidation (automated scheduling and interest calculation): 80% complete — liquidation/reliquidation function complete, performance testing beginning
• Refund (electronic payment to designated bank accounts): 60% complete — refund processing functionality complete, consolidation testing underway

In response, Judge Richard K. Eaton issued an order (Document 40) confirming that CBP is making "satisfactory progress" toward timely completion. The suspension of the March 5 amended order is continued. CBP is required to file its next progress report by 2:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 19, 2026.

Important scope note from today's declaration: Phase 1 of CAPE will handle the majority of formal and informal entries on which IEEPA duties were paid — but will not initially cover unliquidated entries subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, entries with ACE liquidation status of "Suspended," "Extended," or "Under Review," warehouse withdrawals, entries designated on a drawback claim, or certain other entry types. CBP will issue detailed guidance on scope and functionality as each phase is implemented. Importers with entries in these categories should consult a customs attorney.

Following the March 4–5 CIT order, CBP's Executive Director of Trade Programs Brandon Lord filed a sworn declaration on March 6 disclosing the full scale of the task: 330,566 importers, 53+ million entry summary lines, ~$166 billion collected, 20.1 million lines still unliquidated. CBP has committed to completing new ACE system functionality within 45 days. The critical finding: only 21,423 of 330,566 importers had configured their ACE Portal to receive electronic refunds. CBP has already been unable to deliver 7,700 refunds — not delayed, rejected — because importers were not configured. Contact your Western Overseas representative about your ACE Portal setup now.

Judge Richard K. Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade issued the order that formally set the refund process in motion: CBP is directed to liquidate IEEPA-affected entries without applying IEEPA duties — effectively ordering that those collections be reversed. This is the largest customs duty refund event in U.S. history.

Western Overseas sent clients a full briefing covering the Section 122 transition, the FedEx lawsuit at the CIT, and the guidance that IEEPA refund strategy requires a customs attorney — not just a broker. Customs brokers do not hold attorney-client privilege. Western Overseas can provide a referral list of qualified trade counsel upon request.

In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the Court ruled IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion. The Administration immediately pivoted to Section 122, imposing a 10% temporary import duty (per CBP CSMS #67844987) effective February 24. Read our full importer's guide: The Supreme Court Just Changed the Tariff Landscape →