TradeFlex | Customs & Trade Update | October 20, 2026
CAPE Phase 3 went live on October 6. Two weeks later, another group of importers was reported to have received access.
According to an October 20 report by Trade Law Daily describing a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) email to importers’ attorneys, the latest group covers importers that sued over International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs and submitted their importer of record numbers to CBP between July 31 and August 13, 2026.
The date window concerns submission of the importer number to CBP. It is not a new range of shipment dates or tariff-payment dates.
How CAPE Phase 3 fits the IEEPA refund process
CAPE stands for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. It is functionality within CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment, or ACE, for processing valid refunds of duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The refund process follows the Supreme Court’s February 20, 2026 decision that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. CBP activated CAPE’s first phase on April 20 for specified unliquidated and recently liquidated entries.
Phase 3 followed on October 6. In its declaration filed that day, CBP described the new functionality as covering finally liquidated entries of plaintiffs for which the court had ordered reliquidation.
Liquidation is CBP’s final calculation or determination of duties on an entry. Reliquidation revises that determination. The court order covering the entries is therefore part of the Phase 3 framework CBP described.
Who received access first
CBP’s October 6 declaration says it notified counsel for plaintiffs that had submitted a valid importer of record number by July 30. Those plaintiffs could then file Phase 3 CAPE declarations.
The same declaration said CBP would provide additional instructions to plaintiffs whose importer numbers were submitted after July 30.
What the October 20 access update adds
The new wave described by Trade Law Daily covers the next reported submission window: July 31 through August 13. It follows the rollout CBP had outlined for later-submitted importer numbers.
Access update | Importer-number submission window |
October 6 launch | Valid IOR number submitted by July 30, 2026 |
October 20 reported expansion | IOR number submitted July 31–August 13, 2026 |
The October 20 expansion is reported from CBP’s communication to counsel. The public October 6 declaration confirms the launch and original cutoff; it does not itself establish the later window.
What access to CAPE Phase 3 means
Access enables eligible filers to submit declarations through the relevant functionality. CBP still performs file and entry validations before a submission can proceed.
Its October 6 declaration identifies importer or filer mismatches, incorrect entry numbers and CSV-template problems among reasons declarations fail file validation. These checks are separate from receipt of access.
An access notice is not confirmation that every entry has been accepted or that a refund has been paid.
What importers need to confirm
For the newly notified group, the relevant records include the IOR number submitted, its submission date, counsel’s notification, the court order covering the entries and the results returned by CAPE.
The next operational step is submission and processing under the applicable Phase 3 instructions. Further groups will need the access instructions that CBP provides for their importer numbers.
