Key Takeaways
- An IEEPA refund and duty drawback aren’t the same thing.
One returns tariffs a court ruled were never lawful; the other recovers duties you’re legally owed on exported goods. - IEEPA refunds go through CBP’s CAPE system, not drawback or a Post Summary Correction.
There’s one exception: the reciprocal tariff is separately drawback-eligible, and may be your only recovery option if CAPE isn’t open to you yet. - Most other tariffs remain fully drawback-eligible.
Section 301, Section 201, and Section 122 duties can all be recovered on export; Section 232 mostly can’t. - Sequencing matters.
An entry already tied to a drawback claim is shut out of CAPE, so the order you file in counts. - CAPE Phase 3 opens October 6, 2026.
It only reaches importers who already sued at the CIT.
“Refund” has been the word of the year in trade circles. The Supreme Court threw out a year of emergency tariffs, Customs built a new system to process the money, and importers started asking the obvious question: does this mean I get my money back?
It depends which money you mean. Two different mechanisms are in play, and they’re easy to confuse. One is the IEEPA refund, which exists because a court ruled the tariffs invalid. The other is duty drawback, which has been on the books since 1789. They cover different duties, follow different rules, and run on different clocks. Mix them up and you can either miss a sizable recovery or flag an entry for trying to claim the same dollar twice.
CBP’s CAPE rollout reaches its next milestone on October 6, 2026, when Phase 3 opens — the piece that finally extends refunds to finally liquidated entries for importers who sued at the Court of International Trade. It’s a good moment to get the fundamentals straight before more refund dollars start moving.
Two refunds, two different mechanisms
An IEEPA refund exists because a tariff was unlawful. When Customs collects a duty it had no authority to charge, it has to give the money back.
Duty drawback is the opposite case. The duty was owed and correctly paid. Drawback lets you recover up to 99% of it after the imported goods, or products made from them, are exported or destroyed. It’s a trade incentive written into law at 19 U.S.C. § 1313 and run under 19 CFR Part 190.
So an IEEPA refund gives back a duty that was never valid. Drawback gives back a valid duty because you (or your buyer) exported the goods. Here’s the same split, point by point:
- What it returns: an IEEPA refund returns tariffs a court ruled were never lawful; drawback returns up to 99% of duties you legally owed.
- Legal basis: IEEPA refunds rest on the court rulings; drawback rests on 19 U.S.C. § 1313.
- What triggers it: an IEEPA refund is triggered when the duties are declared invalid; drawback is triggered when the goods are exported or destroyed.
- How you claim it: IEEPA refunds go through CBP’s CAPE system; drawback is a claim you file with CBP.
- Deadline: an IEEPA refund depends on liquidation status and the litigation; drawback runs five years from the date of importation.
- What it covers: IEEPA refunds cover the invalidated IEEPA duties (reciprocal and fentanyl); drawback covers Section 301, 201, and the reciprocal IEEPA tariff, but not the fentanyl IEEPA tariff or most of Section 232.
What the IEEPA refund actually is
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t give the President authority to impose tariffs. That invalidated the IEEPA tariffs from day one, including the reciprocal tariffs on most countries and the fentanyl tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. CBP had collected more than $166 billion under them. We covered what the ruling means for recovery in our look at the SCOTUS decision and what it means for drawback.
Because the duties were never lawful, you’re entitled to get them back. Most of that runs through CAPE rather than the usual refund tools like a Post Summary Correction — though the reciprocal tariff has a separate path through drawback too, covered below.
How CAPE refunds work
CBP built a dedicated system for the IEEPA refunds: the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, which lives inside ACE. It’s rolling out in phases. Phase 1 went live April 20, 2026, for unliquidated and recently liquidated entries. Phase 2 followed June 29, 2026, covering reconciliation-flagged and antidumping/countervailing duty entries.
Phase 3 launches October 6, 2026, and reaches finally liquidated entries — but only for importers who sued at the Court of International Trade and gave CBP a valid importer of record number by July 30, 2026. If you haven’t filed suit, CBP’s current position is that finally liquidated entries stay out of CAPE until further litigation or guidance changes that. Scope and timing keep shifting as the litigation plays out, so check the current status before you file.
Here’s the part that trips people up. Post Summary Corrections are the usual way to fix an entry and claw back overpaid duties. For IEEPA refunds, CBP has told importers not to file PSCs and to use CAPE instead. If your team’s first instinct is a PSC, just redirect it to CAPE.
What duty drawback is, and why it’s still here
Drawback has nothing to do with the IEEPA litigation. It’s a permanent program that refunds up to 99% of the duties, taxes, and fees you paid (directly or indirectly) on imported goods once those goods, or products made from them, are exported or destroyed under CBP supervision. The lookback runs five years from the date of import. Our guide to the types of duty drawback covers manufacturing, unused merchandise, and rejected merchandise claims, and our duty drawback services page explains how we handle it.
The point for 2026: CAPE gives back the invalidated IEEPA duties, but drawback recovers the duties you’re still paying. Those are the big ones.
Which duties you can still recover through drawback
The ruling removed the IEEPA tariffs from ongoing collection, but duties already paid on the reciprocal tariff are still drawback-eligible in their own right. It left everything else in place too, and most of that is also recoverable through drawback when you or your buyer export or destroy the goods.
- IEEPA reciprocal tariff (paid February 2025–February 2026): drawback-eligible, separate from the CAPE refund process. This is the one exception in the CAPE-vs-drawback story — the reciprocal tariff qualifies for both paths, just not on the same entry. That matters most for importers whose entries are finally liquidated and who haven’t sued at the CIT: CAPE isn’t open to you yet, so drawback on exported or destroyed goods may be the only way to recover this duty right now. The fentanyl/trafficking IEEPA tariff doesn’t have this option — its executive order bars drawback outright, so CAPE remains the only route for that piece.
- Section 301 (Chinese-origin goods): fully eligible. The biggest opportunity for most importers, covering electronics, machined parts, rare earths, and components sourced from China. More in our breakdown of Section 301 tariffs and drawback eligibility.
- Section 122 (the temporary 10% global tariff): drawback-eligible. The surcharge itself expired July 24, 2026, but duties paid on it remain drawback-eligible. It applied to entries between February 24 and July 24, 2026; CBP confirmed drawback is available on those duties under standard procedures, and the claim stays open for five years from each import date, regardless of the surcharge’s expiration. New Section 301 forced-labor duties of 10–12.5% on products from roughly 60 economies took its place the same day, and are drawback-eligible the same way other Section 301 duties are.
- Section 201 (safeguard duties): generally eligible. These hit categories like solar cells and large washers and can be recovered on qualifying exports.
- Section 232 (steel, aluminum, copper, autos): eligibility limited. Per CBP guidance, Section 232 duties generally can’t be recovered through drawback. However, rules introduced in April 2026 allow drawback in some narrow cases, for select trade-agreement-partner products using qualifying U.S., UK, or partner-origin metals. Speak to a drawback expert to learn whether your business is eligible.
The fentanyl IEEPA tariffs were never drawback-eligible anyway, which is moot now that they’re being returned through CAPE. For the full current picture, see our running guide to which tariffs are drawback-eligible.
Where the two collide
CAPE and drawback aren’t interchangeable, and they aren’t fully separate either. CBP built CAPE to keep out entries that carry over-refund risk, so an entry already in a drawback claim is held out of CAPE, along with entries under protest or flagged for reconciliation. Customs doesn’t want to pay the same dollar twice.
So, if you’re going after both, you need a plan. The IEEPA duties on an entry go through CAPE. The Section 301 duties on that same entry, the ones you still owe, are the drawback opportunity once the goods leave the country. Getting the order and the paperwork right is what separates a clean recovery from a stalled one.
Which one applies to you?
Most importers land in one or both of these.
- You paid IEEPA tariffs between February 2025 and February 2026. Those go back through CAPE. The job is making sure every affected entry is captured and processed correctly. If your entries are finally liquidated and you haven’t filed suit at the CIT, CAPE isn’t an option yet — but the reciprocal-tariff portion is separately drawback-eligible, so exporting or destroying the underlying goods may still get some of that money back.
- You pay Section 301 or 201 duties and export or destroy goods. That’s a drawback opportunity, with a five-year lookback that likely reaches back to 2021. It’s the larger, ongoing recovery, and it doesn’t hinge on any court ruling.
Plenty of companies are both. A manufacturer importing Chinese components paid IEEPA reciprocal tariffs that CAPE will return, and is sitting on years of recoverable Section 301 duties on the components it exports in finished goods. Two pools of money, two different ways to get them back.
Find out what you’re owed
Duty drawback is all we do, and we work on contingency. There’s no fee unless we recover money for you, no retainer, and nothing upfront, so a review costs you only the time it takes to share your import and export data.
Start with our Drawback Calculator to size up your recovery, or book a discovery call and we’ll look at your import origins, export flows, and tariff exposure and tell you what’s claimable. The five-year clock runs from each import date, so the oldest, most valuable entries drop off first. The duties are paid. The window is open. The sooner you look, the more you keep.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. An IEEPA refund returns tariffs the Supreme Court ruled were never lawful, and it’s processed through CBP’s CAPE system. Drawback recovers duties you legally owed on goods you later export or destroy, under 19 U.S.C. § 1313. They’re separate, with separate rules and deadlines. The one exception is the reciprocal IEEPA tariff, which qualifies for both paths — just not on the same entry.
For the reciprocal tariff, yes. It’s drawback-eligible under standard 19 U.S.C. § 1313 procedures, independent of CAPE. If your entries are finally liquidated and you haven’t filed suit at the CIT, you have no CAPE path today — so drawback, on goods you export or destroy, may be your only near-term way to recover that duty. The fentanyl/trafficking IEEPA tariff doesn’t have this fallback: its executive order bars drawback outright, so CAPE is the only route once, or if, eligibility opens for those entries.
Generally no. For IEEPA duties, CBP has directed importers to use CAPE rather than file Post Summary Corrections. PSCs and protests still work for other duty corrections, just not IEEPA refunds.
Yes. Section 301 duties are generally recoverable through duty drawback when the underlying goods or qualifying products are exported or destroyed. In many cases, you can recover up to 99% of the Section 301 duties paid, subject to the applicable drawback rules and documentation requirements.
Yes, for goods imported while it was in effect. The 10% Section 122 surcharge applied to entries between February 24, 2026, and July 24, 2026, when it hit its 150-day statutory limit and expired. CBP confirmed drawback is available on those duties under standard procedures, and because drawback carries a five-year filing window from the date of import, that route stays open well after the surcharge itself is gone. It’s since been replaced by new Section 301 forced-labor duties of 10–12.5% on products from about 60 economies, which are drawback-eligible the same way other Section 301 duties are.
Mostly no. Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum, and copper generally can’t be recovered through drawback. The rules since April 2026 allow it only in narrow cases, for select trade-agreement-partner products using qualifying metals.
Yes, but coordinate them. An entry already in a drawback claim is shut out of CAPE to prevent duplicate refunds. The IEEPA duties go through CAPE; the Section 301 duties you still owe are the drawback opportunity. Order and documentation decide whether both go through cleanly.
Five years from the date of import. With tariffs elevated since 2025, the recoverable pool is unusually large for many importers, and the oldest entries age out first.
