The legal fight is over. Now comes the operational challenge.
If you’ve been following the IEEPA tariff saga, you know the headline: the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs in February. The authority question is settled.
What isn’t settled — and what importers need to focus on right now — is the mechanics of getting money back.
A March 4th order from the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) has started to define what that process looks like, and if you paid IEEPA duties, the details of this order have real dollar implications for you.
What the court actually ordered
The CIT directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to:
- Liquidate unliquidated entries without applying IEEPA duties
- Reliquidate entries that have liquidated but aren’t yet final — again, without IEEPA duties
The presiding judge made clear: CBP must refund all IEEPA duties collected from importers.
That sounds comprehensive, but the path to actually receiving that money depends entirely on which category your entries fall into.
Three buckets — and they matter
Unliquidated Entries are the most straightforward. If your entry hasn’t yet been liquidated, CBP may now be required to liquidate it without the IEEPA tariff. The duty could simply disappear at liquidation rather than requiring you to file a refund claim. For companies with significant volume still in this status, this is a genuinely meaningful development.
Liquidated but not yet Final Entries are still in play. Under customs law, entries generally become final 180 days after liquidation — unless a protest has been filed. The court’s order indicates that entries still within that window may be reliquidated without the IEEPA tariff. The door is open, but it closes on a rolling basis.
Final Entries are the most complex case, and the one with the most money at stake. The CIT will need to design a broader refund framework to address these — covering who qualifies, whether importers must have previously filed protests or lawsuits, what documentation is required, and how CBP processes refunds at scale. That process is still being worked out.
Important caveat: don’t sit back and wait
Here’s the part of this update that gets lost in the headlines.
The government is expected to appeal the CIT’s order and request a stay from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. That means refunds are not flowing yet. Importers who assume the system will handle everything automatically — without taking protective steps now — may find themselves outside critical windows.
The recommendation from customs attorneys is clear:
- Continue filing CIT actions as soon as possible
- File protests within 180 days of liquidation on any entry that paid IEEPA duties — this protects your refund rights while litigation continues
- Confirm your ACE setup — make sure you’re registered to receive electronic refunds from CBP
One more development to watch: Section 301
Even as the refund framework takes shape, the tariff landscape is shifting again.
The U.S. Trade Representative has initiated two Section 301 investigations covering dozens of trading partners — widely understood as the administration’s attempt to replace the invalidated IEEPA tariffs with new ones before the current Section 122 authority expires on July 24, 2026.
The public comment deadline for both investigations is April 15, 2026.
This matters for importers in affected product categories. Customs attorneys who have participated in prior Section 301 proceedings note that the absence of opposing comments has historically been a factor in the administration moving forward with proposed tariff actions. If your products or suppliers are in scope, this is worth a conversation with trade counsel before the deadline.
The bottom line for importers
The IEEPA case was always going to end. What was less clear — and is now becoming clearer — is that the refund phase may be more technically demanding than the litigation itself.
Importers who have already been tracking their entries closely (liquidation status, protest deadlines, ACE registration) are positioned to move quickly as the framework develops. Those who haven’t will need to catch up fast.
Our team works with importers on exactly this kind of customs compliance and entry management work. If you have questions about where your entries stand or what steps to take before the windows close, we’re happy to talk it through.
Sources: Court of International Trade order, March 4, 2026; GDLSK IEEPA Litigation Update, March 4, 2026; GDLSK Section 301 Update, March 16, 2026.
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