On September 15, 2026, CBP’s Executive Director of Trade Programs, Brandon Lord, filed a declaration with the U.S. Court of International Trade confirming that Phase 3 of the CAPE system will deploy on October 6, 2026. This is the phase importers have been waiting for, since it finally addresses refunds on entries that have already gone through final liquidation.
How We Got Here
After the Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that certain IEEPA tariffs were unlawful, CBP built the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system inside ACE to process refunds at scale, roughly 330,000 importers had paid an estimated $166 billion in IEEPA duties across 53 million entries.
CAPE rolled out in stages:
- Phase 1 (April 20, 2026): unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the prior 80 days, about 63% of affected entries.
- Phase 2 (June 29, 2026): certain reconciliation entries.
- Phase 3 (originally targeted for late July, repeatedly delayed for “additional validations,” now confirmed for October 6): finally liquidated entries.
A CIT order issued on July 17, 2026 also matters here, it directed CBP to reliquidate, without regard to IEEPA duties, entries belonging to plaintiffs that had been liquidated for more than 80 days. That order underpins Phase 3’s legal basis.
Who Actually Qualifies for Phase 3
This is the part easiest to misread. Phase 3 does not open refunds to every finally liquidated entry. Per CBP’s declaration, three conditions must all be met:
- The entry has completed final liquidation.
- The filer is a plaintiff in a pending CIT case seeking IEEPA refunds.
- The entry falls within the scope of a court reliquidation order.
CBP’s position remains that, absent a court order, it has no authority to refund finally liquidated entries automatically and that position is still being litigated on appeal.
The Key Date: July 30, 2026
Eligibility also hinges on when a plaintiff submitted its Importer of Record (IOR) number to CBP:
- Submitted before July 30, 2026 → can start filing Phase 3 CAPE declarations on October 6.
- Submitted after July 30, 2026 → must wait for further CBP instructions before participating.
Not Automatic And Not Risk-Free
A few important caveats:
- No auto-refunds. Even eligible importers must actively file a CAPE Declaration and pass CBP’s file- and entry-level validation before any money moves to Treasury.
- Scope could still shift. The government’s appeal on whether non-plaintiff importers deserve refunds on finally liquidated entries is unresolved.
- Administrative delays are real. On September 9, 2026, members of Congress wrote to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott flagging cases where account approvals weren’t completed within CBP’s own 90-day refund-request window, hurting small importers in particular.
What Importers and Counsel Should Check Now
- Confirm plaintiff status in a pending IEEPA refund case at the CIT.
- Verify the specific entries fall under a court reliquidation order.
- Confirm the IOR number was submitted to CBP before July 30, 2026.
- Cross-check entry data against CAPE declaration template requirements before filing.
Importers who submitted their IOR number after July 30 should watch closely for CBP’s supplemental guidance, that’s the next major checkpoint before they can join Phase 3.
Based on CBP’s September 15, 2026 CIT declaration and related public court filings. For informational purposes only, not legal advice.