What entries qualify for CAPE Phase Two?

Phase Two is for entries flagged for reconciliation that paid now-invalidated IEEPA duties. These were excluded from Phase 1, which CBP launched April 20 for unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within 80 days. If you flagged an entry for reconciliation and paid IEEPA duties on it, this is the phase that applies to you.

Who is allowed to file the CAPE declaration?

Only the importer of record or the broker that filed the original entry can submit the CAPE declaration. A different broker can't pick up the claim, so the recovery is tied to whoever transmitted the entry in the first place. Confirm the original filer before you promise a client a refund.

Are IEEPA refunds automatic once I file?

No. CBP doesn't push the money back on its own. A broker has to submit the CAPE declaration through ACE to trigger recovery, and until that declaration posts, the duties stay collected. Entries left unfiled don't get refunded.

Why were IEEPA duties invalidated in the first place?

The reciprocal IEEPA duties were challenged in court, and the refund mechanism reflects entries that paid duties later found not to be owed. CAPE is CBP's administrative channel for returning those amounts. Separate litigation continues over the Section 122 surcharge, a different measure that isn't part of the CAPE refund process.

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July 8, 2026 · 4 min read

CBP opens CAPE Phase Two for IEEPA refunds on reconciliation-flagged entries

As of June 29, brokers can file IEEPA refund claims through CAPE for entries flagged for reconciliation, the batch Phase 1 left behind.

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The short version

CBP's Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) tool began accepting Phase Two IEEPA refund claims on June 29, 2026, per guidance issued June 23. Phase Two covers entries flagged for reconciliation, which were shut out of Phase 1. Only the importer of record or the broker that filed the original entry can submit the CAPE declaration through ACE, and refunds are not automatic.

CBP's CAPE tool started accepting Phase Two IEEPA refund claims on June 29, 2026. That opens the door for the entries that got left out the first time around: the ones flagged for reconciliation.

The guidance came out June 23, per UPS's tariff developments summary and CBP's own Trade Remedies page. CAPE stands for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, the channel CBP built to hand back IEEPA duties that importers paid before those duties were invalidated. Phase 1 launched April 20 and covered unliquidated entries plus entries liquidated within 80 days. Reconciliation-flagged entries were excluded from that batch. Now they have a home.

If you file recon, this matters to your book of business more than most brokers realize. A chunk of your highest-value entries sit in exactly this bucket.

Who can file the CAPE declaration?

Only the importer of record or the broker that filed the original entry can submit the CAPE declaration. That's the line CBP drew, and it's worth reading twice before you take on a refund project for a new client.

If your firm didn't transmit the original entry, you can't file the CAPE claim on it. This trips up importers who've switched brokers since the IEEPA duties were paid. The recovery follows the original filer. So an importer who moved their business in the last year may need to go back to the prior broker to get the declaration submitted, or handle it themselves as the importer of record.

Work out that chain of custody now. Pull the entry summaries, confirm who filed, and flag anything where the filing broker relationship has changed.

The refund isn't automatic

Nothing gets returned until a CAPE declaration posts through ACE. CBP isn't sweeping accounts and cutting checks on its own.

That's the single most important operational fact here. We keep seeing importers assume an invalidated duty means an automatic credit. It doesn't. Entries without a declaration filed stay as they are, duties collected, no refund. On reconciliation-flagged entries specifically, the volume can be large and the dollar amounts per entry meaningful, so leaving them unfiled is real money on the table.

Reconciliation entries carry their own timing quirks, because the recon itself often hasn't closed the loop on value, classification, or 9802. You're now layering an IEEPA refund claim on top of an entry that was already going to be revisited. Coordinate the two so you're not filing a CAPE declaration that gets tangled with the recon adjustment.

What to actually do

Here's the near-term work for brokerage teams and importers managing their own entries and duty exposure:

Pull a list of every entry you flagged for reconciliation that paid IEEPA reciprocal duties. That's your Phase Two population.
Confirm your firm filed the original entry on each one. If not, identify who did, because only that filer or the importer of record can submit the CAPE declaration.
Reconcile the IEEPA refund claim against any pending recon adjustment on the same entry so the two don't conflict.
Submit the CAPE declarations through ACE. No declaration, no refund.
Document the claimed amounts per entry so you can tie refunds back when CBP processes them.

Brokers running this at scale should treat it as a queue, not a one-off. If you filed hundreds of recon-flagged entries with IEEPA duties, that's hundreds of declarations, and the labor is real. Platforms built for brokerage teams can help batch the identification step, but the declaration itself still has to go through ACE under the original filer's credentials.

Don't confuse this with the Section 122 fight

One clarification, because the two get mixed up constantly. CAPE refunds cover IEEPA reciprocal duties that were invalidated. The 10% Section 122 global surcharge is a separate measure with its own litigation track, and CBP is still collecting it. The Court of International Trade held that surcharge invalid on May 7, but the Federal Circuit stayed that ruling on June 11, so it keeps getting collected pending appeal.

So the Section 122 money is not part of the CAPE process right now. Don't file CAPE declarations expecting to recover the 10% surcharge, and don't tell clients their Section 122 payments are coming back yet. Only the IEEPA reciprocal duties flow through CAPE.

Phase Two has no announced closing date in the guidance we've seen, but refund windows tend to tighten as CBP works through backlog and liquidation deadlines pass. The entries are identified, the tool is open, and the filer restriction is clear. The recovery depends entirely on someone submitting the declaration.

Common questions

What entries qualify for CAPE Phase Two?: Phase Two is for entries flagged for reconciliation that paid now-invalidated IEEPA duties. These were excluded from Phase 1, which CBP launched April 20 for unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within 80 days. If you flagged an entry for reconciliation and paid IEEPA duties on it, this is the phase that applies to you.
Who is allowed to file the CAPE declaration?: Only the importer of record or the broker that filed the original entry can submit the CAPE declaration. A different broker can't pick up the claim, so the recovery is tied to whoever transmitted the entry in the first place. Confirm the original filer before you promise a client a refund.
Are IEEPA refunds automatic once I file?: No. CBP doesn't push the money back on its own. A broker has to submit the CAPE declaration through ACE to trigger recovery, and until that declaration posts, the duties stay collected. Entries left unfiled don't get refunded.
Why were IEEPA duties invalidated in the first place?: The reciprocal IEEPA duties were challenged in court, and the refund mechanism reflects entries that paid duties later found not to be owed. CAPE is CBP's administrative channel for returning those amounts. Separate litigation continues over the Section 122 surcharge, a different measure that isn't part of the CAPE refund process.