CAPE Phase 3 launched on October 6. Two weeks later, another group of importers was reported to have received access to the IEEPA tariff refund system.
According to an October 20 report by Trade Law Daily, U.S. Customs and Border Protection notified attorneys that the latest group includes importers that sued over International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs and submitted their importer of record numbers between July 31 and August 13, 2026.
The reported expansion follows the initial rollout, which covered qualifying plaintiffs whose valid importer numbers were submitted by July 30.
The new window concerns when an importer number was submitted to CBP. It does not describe shipment dates or dates when tariffs were paid.
What is CAPE Phase 3?
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 IEEPA.
In its October 6 court declaration, CBP described Phase 3 as covering finally liquidated entries filed by plaintiffs for which the court had ordered reliquidation.
Liquidation is CBP’s final determination of duties on an entry. Reliquidation revises that determination.
The applicable court order is therefore part of the Phase 3 framework. Access is not described as a general opening for every importer that paid IEEPA tariffs.
Who is included in the latest CAPE Phase 3 update?
The reported new group consists of IEEPA tariff plaintiffs whose importer of record numbers were submitted to CBP from July 31 through August 13, subject to the applicable court orders and Phase 3 instructions.
The rollout now includes two identified submission windows:
- October 6 launch: Qualifying plaintiffs with valid importer of record numbers submitted by July 30, 2026.
- October 20 reported expansion: The next group, with importer numbers submitted July 31–August 13, 2026.
CBP’s public October 6 declaration confirms the original cutoff and says plaintiffs with later submissions would receive additional instructions.
The July 31–August 13 window comes from Trade Law Daily’s account of CBP’s October 20 email to counsel.
Does CAPE Phase 3 access mean a refund has been approved?
No. Receiving access allows eligible filers to submit declarations through the relevant functionality.
CBP still performs file and entry validations before a submission can proceed through processing. Its declaration identifies importer or filer mismatches, incorrect entry numbers and CSV-template problems among the reasons declarations fail file validation.
Access, acceptance, refund processing and payment are separate steps.
An access notice does not confirm that every entry has been accepted or that a refund has been paid.
What newly notified importers need to confirm
The key records for the next stage include:
- The importer of record number submitted to CBP.
- The date that number was submitted.
- The access notification received by counsel.
- The court order covering the entries.
- The submission and validation results returned by CAPE.
These records connect the importer’s notification with the entries and instructions applicable to its filing.
For the newly notified group, the next operational step is submission and processing under the relevant Phase 3 instructions.
What happens to later submissions?
The reported October 20 expansion does not establish an access date for importer numbers submitted after August 13.
CBP’s October 6 declaration anticipated further instructions for later submissions, but each subsequent group depends on the instructions the agency provides.
For importers following the rollout, the immediate questions remain the same: which submission window applies, whether counsel has received notification and which entries are covered by the applicable court order.
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