CAPE Phase 1: What the CBP Declaration Means for Your IEEPA Refunds

What Has Changed

On 30 March 2026, CBP Executive Director Brandon Lord filed a formal declaration with the Court in the Atmus Filtration litigation, setting out the confirmed scope and operational parameters of CAPE Phase 1. This is not informal guidance. It is CBP's on-the-record position, and trade compliance teams need to read it carefully before acting.

CAPE (CBP's Automated Processing Environment) is the mechanism CBP is using to remove IEEPA duties from eligible entries and process associated refunds. Phase 1 is now live, but its scope is deliberately limited. Understanding what it covers, and what it does not, is critical before your customs broker or legal team takes any filing action.

What Phase 1 Will Accept

CBP confirmed that CAPE Phase 1 will accept CAPE Declarations for entries that meet the following criteria:

• Entries with a liquidation status of Suspended, Extended, or Under Review
• Warehouse and warehouse withdrawal entries
• AD/CVD entries only where liquidation remains suspended pending Commerce instructions

For eligible entries, IEEPA duties will be removed. Refunds will occur only after liquidation, not immediately on declaration submission. This is a key operational point that will affect cash flow planning for affected importers.

Phase 1 also covers entries still within the 90-day voluntary reliquidation window under 19 U.S.C. § 1501. If your entries fall outside this window and are finally liquidated, they will not be addressed in Phase 1. CBP confirmed those will be handled in later CAPE phases.

What Phase 1 Will Not Touch

CBP was explicit about the categories excluded from Phase 1. Entries will not be processed through CAPE Phase 1 if they fall into any of the following:

• Reconciliation entries, including Entry Type 09
• Entries designated on drawback claims
• Entries with an open protest
• Entries not filed in ACE or with missing liquidation status
• Certain AD/CVD entries where Commerce has already issued liquidation instructions

If your entries are subject to an active protest or involved in a drawback claim, CAPE Phase 1 will not provide relief. Your strategy for those entries must run separately, through protest or litigation channels. CBP's position on this is firm.

Timeline and Compliance Checks

Once CBP accepts a CAPE Declaration, the processing and liquidation of identified entries may take up to 45 days. That window extends further if compliance issues are identified during review.

CBP made clear that compliance validations and spot checks are built into CAPE processing. Where issues are found, CBP has the ability to offset refunds. This is not a blanket refund mechanism. It is a review process with real compliance exposure built in. Any entry with classification errors, valuation issues, or prior underpayments on unrelated duties is a potential offset target.

For importers who have not recently audited their entry data, this is a material risk. Filing a CAPE Declaration without understanding the compliance profile of those entries could result in a net refund that is smaller than anticipated, or offset entirely.

What Comes in Future CAPE Phases

CBP signalled clearly that CAPE will continue to expand. Future phases are expected to include:

• Processing of finally liquidated entries
• Handling of reconciliation and drawback entries
• Enhanced compliance and revenue enforcement tools
• Processing of non-ABI entries with no summary lines

The scope will grow, but so will the compliance scrutiny. Each new phase brings more entries into scope and, correspondingly, more opportunity for CBP to identify and act on compliance gaps across an importer's full entry history.

Key Actions for Importers

1. Identify your eligible entries now. Understand which of your entries carry a liquidation status of Suspended, Extended, or Under Review. Entries outside these statuses are not Phase 1 eligible.
2. Audit before you file. Spot checks are built into CAPE processing. Review classification, valuation, and duty payment records for any entry you intend to include in a CAPE Declaration. Compliance exposure on one entry can offset the refund on another.
3. Separate your protest strategy. Entries with open protests are excluded from Phase 1. Your customs attorney needs a separate action plan for those entries. Do not assume CAPE covers everything.
4. Track AD/CVD status carefully. AD/CVD entries are included only where liquidation remains suspended pending Commerce instructions. If Commerce has issued instructions, the entry is out of Phase 1 scope.
5. Plan for a 45-day minimum. Do not build cash flow assumptions around immediate refunds. Liquidation takes time, and compliance issues extend it further.

How MyCustomsInfo® Can Help

MyCustomsInfo® provides importers and compliance teams with the entry-level audit intelligence needed to approach CAPE with confidence. The platform enables users to review historical entry data, identify compliance risk across a portfolio of entries, and monitor liquidation status, so that any CAPE Declaration is built on a clean and audited foundation.

Understanding which entries are eligible, and which carry compliance exposure, is the work that must happen before any declaration is submitted. MyCustomsInfo® exists to make that work faster and more reliable.

If you want to understand your entry portfolio ahead of CAPE filing, book a platform demo or speak to our trade compliance team directly.