On June 23, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) published Cargo Systems Messaging Service (“CSMS”) #69035485, confirming that Phase 2 of the process for refunding duties paid by importers of record under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) will be deployed in the Automated Commercial Environment (“ACE”) Portal on June 29, 2026. CBP unveiled the refund process, known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (“CAPE”), in a March 12, 2026 declaration to the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”), confirming that the IEEPA tariff refund process would be implemented in multiple phases (see Update of March 13, 2026).
Consistent with a June 4, 2026, filing submitted to the CIT by CBP, Phase 2 of the CAPE will cover entries flagged for reconciliation (entry types 01, 02, and 06) for which a corresponding reconciliation entry (entry type 09) has not yet been filed (see Update of June 15, 2026). By contrast, entries flagged for reconciliation for which a reconciliation entry is already on file “will be included in a future phase of CAPE development.”
The scope of Phase 2 is further limited to unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation, consistent with Phase 1 of the CAPE. Introduced in a March 31, 2026 declaration to the CIT, Phase 1 of the CAPE refunds IEEPA tariffs collected on unliquidated entries and entries no more than 80 days past liquidation (see Update of April 3, 2026).
As stated in the CSMS message, Phase 2 will also operate concurrently with Phase 1, which has been in effect since April 20, 2026, via the ACE Portal (see Update of April 10, 2026). The filing requirements and processing procedures applicable to Phase 2 will be identical to those used in Phase 1.
Meanwhile, at a show cause hearing at the CIT on June 9, 2026, held amid concerns over the rollout of CAPE phases, CBP confirmed that it is developing Phase 3 of the CAPE, with deployment anticipated by the end of July 2026 (see Update of June 1, 2026).
According to CBP, Phase 3 will cover finally liquidated entries; however, it remains unclear whether the agency’s reference to “finally” liquidated entries means only entries that have completed both the 314-day liquidation cycle and the 180-day protest period during which importers of record may challenge CBP’s final duty assessment, or whether it also includes entries that are not finally liquidated but fall outside the scope of Phases 1 and 2 of the CAPE (i.e., entries that have been liquidated for 81 to 180 days).
To date, CBP’s only reference to Phase 3 occurred at that June 9, 2026 show cause hearing, and the agency has not provided any further details about the phase. While that reference alone appears encouraging, as it suggests CBP is working on additional CAPE phases, one week before the hearing—on June 2, 2026—CBP filed an appeal of the IEEPA tariff refund process, arguing the agency lacks authority to refund the IEEPA tariffs collected on finally liquidated entries unless the importer of record seeking such a refund has a lawsuit pending before the CIT (see Update of June 3, 2026). As a result, the appeal directly implicates Phase 3 of the CAPE, raising additional uncertainty regarding its scope and timing, including which importers of record will even be eligible to participate.
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