CBP launches CAPE portal for IEEPA tariff refunds on imports

Money trapped in tariff payments may start moving back to importers, but only for entries that fit CBP’s first-phase rules. U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched CAPE on April 20, 2026, inside the Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal, creating an electronic route for refund claims tied to duties paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The first phase is narrow. CBP said it will process unliquidated entries and entries no more than 80 days past liquidation, while entries marked suspended, extended or under review can be accepted without an immediate refund. Final-liquidation entries are excluded for now. CBP also said the system is built to handle IEEPA refunds in batches, not one entry at a time, a design choice that points to a high-volume claims queue rather than a quick manual fix.

For diamond importers and jewelry houses that absorbed the tariffs, the immediate question is whether a given shipment is recent enough to qualify and whether the entry status is clean enough to move through CAPE. Claims that clear review are expected to produce refunds about 60 to 90 days later, giving customs brokers a short runway to match entry records, tariff payments and liquidation dates before cash comes back. That timing matters in a business where inventory is bought months ahead and retail pricing is often set before goods land in the showroom.

The scale explains the caution. CBP trade policy executive director Brandon Lord said the refund volume would be unprecedented and could strain agency resources. JCK said the federal government had begun refunding more than $166 billion in tariffs ruled improperly collected, and Rapaport reported that the U.S. Court of International Trade ordered the government to pay back duties collected under IEEPA after the Supreme Court had already invalidated the tariffs. CBP’s fact sheet says the validated refunds will include duties paid under IEEPA, including interest.

That makes CAPE less a procedural footnote than a cash-flow tool for the trade. Importers with eligible entries may be able to recover money now, and any fast refunds could soften pressure on margins, ease replenishment decisions and influence how aggressively diamond and jewelry businesses price their next round of inventory.