Great News on CAPE Phase 1 Refunds!
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently updated the Court of International Trade (CIT) on the progress of the new Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) Phase 1, which launched on April 20. The initial results are encouraging:
21% of IEEPA entries have already been accepted for duty removal using the CAPE tool.
3% of these entries have been successfully processed (liquidated) and are now waiting for the refund stage with the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The very first IEEPA refunds are expected to go out to importers around May 11.
Still Some Hurdles to Clear
While this is positive, the CIT meeting also highlighted a few key operational issues reported by the trade community:
Technical Issues: Problems accessing the ACE system and long wait times for password resets.
Confusion: Uncertainty about identifying the correct importer for a CAPE declaration and over-registration for training events.
Money Questions: Questions regarding the interest rates applied to refund amounts and the specific methods CBP uses to calculate that interest.
Duty Collection: Reports that IEEPA duties are still being collected on some reconciliation entries (e.g., when an entry's value increases, resulting in a duty adjustment).
Ineligibility: Confusion remains about which entries are not eligible for CAPE Phase 1 (such as finally liquidated, certain suspended, and reconciliation entries).
CBP's Plan to Fix It
CBP has promised to issue more official guidance and update the CAPE FAQ section on its website to help clear up these specific concerns.
What's Next?
CBP is scheduled to provide its next formal update on CAPE Phase 1 progress to the CIT on Tuesday, May 12, at 12 p.m. ET, followed by a closed settlement conference later that afternoon. Industry groups, including the NCBFAA Customs Committee, are continuing to closely monitor implementation and will share new information as it becomes available.
Need Help Filing? We're Here for You!
If you haven't filed yet, there's still time! If you are running into issues, remember we have successfully helped clients with ACE accounts, electronic refunds, and CAPE submissions. Give us a call—we're ready to assist.
