How to Claim 127 Billion in Tariff Refunds

CBP is currently accepting and processing CAPE Declarations for IEEPA tariff refund claims as part of a pool that involves roughly $127 billion in potentially refundable duties paid by U.S. importers. Phase 1 covers unliquidated entries, with CBP guidance referencing approximately 45–90 days after CAPE acceptance for processing. Phase 2 covers finally liquidated entries and has no announced processing timeline. Because queue position affects when a refund is reviewed, early filing can materially impact when a refund is received.

CBP is accepting CAPE Declarations for IEEPA tariff refund claims and processing them in the order received. Phase 1 covers unliquidated entries, with CBP guidance referencing roughly 45–90 days after CAPE acceptance. Phase 2 covers finally liquidated entries and has no announced processing timeline. Because queue position matters, early filing can materially affect when a refund is reviewed.

The legal refund right belongs to the Importer of Record listed on the CF7501 entry summary. Your company likely qualifies if it imported goods into the U.S. in 2025–2026, paid IEEPA-classified duties, has not already filed its own CAPE Declaration, and can access import records through a customs broker or ACE Portal documentation.

The core documents are CF7501 entry summaries, duty payment records, commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading or air waybills, and any relevant CBP correspondence. Price Ridge coordinates with your customs broker to gather these records and uses them to identify eligible HTS lines, calculate refundable IEEPA duties, and build the CAPE Declaration.

IEEPA tariffs typically appear on CF7501 entry summaries under HTS subheading 9903.01.25 and related supplemental tariff codes. Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs use different Chapter 9903 subheadings and are not refundable through this process. Price Ridge audits entries line by line to separate refundable IEEPA duty from non-refundable tariff categories.

A CAPE Declaration is the filing CBP requires to process an IEEPA tariff refund claim. It must be submitted through the CAPE tab inside the ACE Secure Data Portal in a strict CSV format that lists eligible entry summaries, including entry number, port code, Importer of Record number, entered value, IEEPA duty amount, HTS subheading, country of origin, and other supporting fields. CBP can reject filings for errors such as wrong column order, missing IOR numbers, or mismatched HTS codes.

Price Ridge offers contingency-based filing with $0 upfront cost. The company takes an agreed percentage only when CBP disburses the refund. The exact percentage depends on claim size and complexity and is disclosed before engagement. For claims of $500,000 or more, Price Ridge may also purchase claims outright at 75–85¢ on the dollar, providing immediate liquidity instead of waiting for CBP payment.

Price Ridge can retrieve import records directly from CBP importer query tools when companies have lost CF7501s, changed brokers, or no longer have an active broker relationship. This typically requires a CBP power of attorney from the Importer of Record. Record retrieval may be included in a contingency engagement or offered as a standalone service, so missing documentation does not necessarily prevent you from filing a claim.