Today, October 6, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)'s IEEPA Duty Refund System Phase 3 (CAPE Phase 3) will be launched as planned. The legal background for this round of refunds is: On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6:3 in the Learning Resources v. Trump case. The President withdrew the relevant administrative order on the same day; On March 4, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ordered CBP to refund all IEEPA tariffs, and the refund system was subsequently established in stages. According to law firm statistics, about 330,000 U.S. importers have paid a total of about US$166 billion in IEEPA tariffs on more than 53 million customs declarations-this money is being returned in stages, which is directly related to the purchase budget of U.S. buyers and negotiate your orders with the United States.
1. CAPE Refund Three Phases: What is the third phase of today's launch?
| stage | online time | coverage |
|---|---|---|
| the first phase | April 20, 2026 | Uncleared customs declarations, customs declarations less than 80 days after clearing (approximately 63% of the affected customs declarations) |
| the second phase | June 29, 2026 | Specific consolidation declaration form |
| the third stage | October 6, 2026 | Customs declarations that have been cleared for more than 80 days and are subject to ongoing litigation in the U.S. Court of International Trade |
The threshold for participation in the third stage is very hard: only registered importers with "IEEPA tariff refunds pending at the U.S. Court of International Trade" can declare, and their customs declarations must fall within the scope of a liquidation order issued by the court. If the importer number (IOR) is submitted before July 30, 2026 and accepted by CBP, it can be submitted on October 6; if submitted later, it will be accepted on a rolling basis. The court's position is that CBP has no right to reopen customs declarations that have been cleared for more than 80 days and must rely on a court order-so filing an individual lawsuit at CIT is still the fastest way to get a refund, and reclusionment orders for individual cases are usually issued within a week or two. The above progress can be found inThompson Hine's September trackingwithThompson Coburn September 17 Trade ExpressThe original basis for verification was the statement submitted to CIT by the CBP official responsible for trade project execution on September 15.
Two or three hard conditions, you can't get money without one.
- Final liquidation has been completed:Only customs declarations that have been cleared for more than 80 days will enter the third stage, and those that have not been cleared and those that have just been cleared will enter the first and second stages.
- Is the plaintiff in the case of CIT:The U.S. government has filed an appeal whether non-litigation importers can be refunded taxes for more than 80 days after liquidation, but the result is undecided; until the appeal is settled, importers who have not filed a case will not be able to receive this refund.
- IOR numbers submitted by July 30:Later submissions will have to wait for CBP's rolling acceptance notice, which will slow down the pace.
Another practical reminder: Only for a complaint filed by IEEPA, please do not withdraw it until a recouncement order is obtained and a lawyer confirms the third-stage qualifications. If you withdraw it too early, you may lose your queue. This is an operational detail that has been repeatedly emphasized by many trade law firms since September.
3. What does it mean for export factories
Three o'clock. First, the cash flow of American buyers will improve: Importers who file cases in court and pay taxes in compliance will receive large tax refunds starting from the fourth quarter. Their procurement budgets are more generous than in the previous two quarters, which is a good window to discuss incremental orders and next year's framework. Second, DDP clause orders are worth self-examination: if your U.S. subsidiary or cooperative importer is the subject of import tax, check its clearing status and refund eligibility, confirm the route with the customs clearance bank and trade lawyer, what can be returned is real money. Third, there are still policy twists and turns: the government has appealed the issue of "refunds to non-plaintiff importers", and the United States is shifting the long-term legal basis of country tariffs to other authorization tools-IEEPA refund dividends do not mean that U.S. line tariffs will be calm from now on, and don't use "refunds" as a long-term assumption for quotation and stocking.
4. Three things the factory can do now
- Divide customers into two categories:Politely ask if core U.S. customers have filed a case with CIT. Customers whose cash flow will improve in the fourth quarter and move forward with the order framework for next year; if they have not filed a case, synchronize the refund progress you know to the other party, and helping him find a trade lawyer is also an extra item.
- Self-inspection DDP orders:List the customs declaration numbers of DDP shipments in the past two years and submit them to the customs clearance bank to check the liquidation status and whether it is within the scope of the re-liquidation order. Don't let the refundable tax slip into the customs account for the time limit.
- Quotation without overdraft refund bonus:Refunds are a one-time cash flow for buyers, not a normal cost reduction. Price negotiations are still calculated according to the normalized tariff structure, and the refund window is used as a bargaining chip for "volume negotiations" rather than a reason for "price concessions."
5. Other foreign trade developments within a week
Domestically, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced the balance of payments trade data in goods and services for August on September 29 (see Today's Trends for data disassembly); a number of new regulations that will be implemented on October 1 (inspection of the suitability of perishable food containers, microbial indicators of imported recycled pulp, optimization of foreign exchange loan account management, etc.) are entering the implementation verification period, and the documents involved are checked item by item. Overseas, the China-EU Economic and Trade High-Level Dialogue was held in Beijing from October 8 to 9. To factories exporting chemical intermediates, auto parts, and new energy components to Europe, pay attention to the impact of the dialogue results on the pace of quotations in the European market.
6. Common questions
1. Our factory only makes FOB. Is this round of refunds related to us?
The direct relationship is not small, but the indirect impact is not small. After American buyers receive tax refunds, their purchasing budgets will improve, and their willingness to place orders and flexibility in the accounting period will improve in the fourth quarter. It is a window for pushing new orders and raising planned quantities. In addition, many "FOB" are actually designated by the buyer as freight forwarders and bear the U.S. section taxes, allowing the customs clearance bank to check the status of the customs declaration and not to miss out on the business space that could have been won.
2. The American customer said that the taxes paid could be refunded and asked for the previously shared tariff costs to be refunded. What should I do?
Don't say yes verbally. First confirm three things: whether the customer has a registered case with CIT, the clearing status of the customs declaration, and the expected arrival time. The original tariff cost sharing was a contractual arrangement confirmed in writing by both parties, and the refund was a one-time cash flow; it is reasonable to incorporate this matter into the business conditions of the new round of orders (such as exchanging a larger amount or a longer frame), rather than directly withdrawing cash.
3. I heard that the United States will use other tariff tools to top it up. Do you still dare to accept orders from the United States?
Dare to accept it, but quote according to the "normalized tariff". What the court rejected was IEEPA, an authorization tool, which does not mean that import barriers have disappeared. There are still variables in the government's appeal. The principle of receiving orders remains unchanged: tariff liability clauses and price adjustment mechanisms are included in the contract, and it is clear whether the buyer bears the burden or the two parties share the burden. Don't gamble that a certain policy disappears.
