Customs terms in everyday language

CAPE Phases 1 and 2 accept entries that liquidated within the last 80 days. Inside that window, CBP can still reopen an entry on its own without a court order.

Related: Liquidation, CAPE Phase 1

After an entry liquidates, you have 180 days to file a protest if you disagree with CBP's numbers. Once that time runs out with no protest, the entry is finally liquidated.

Related: Protest, Finally liquidated

CBP's online system for imports and exports. Importers and brokers use it to file entries, pay duties, run reports, and now request IEEPA refunds.

Related: ACE Portal account, CAPE

Your company's own login to ACE. You need one to file a CAPE Declaration yourself, check on a refund, or add refund bank details. Your broker's account is separate from yours.

Related: ACE, ACH refund

How many importers pay duties electronically, with CBP pulling the money from a bank account. Being set up to pay this way doesn't mean you're set up to receive refunds.

Related: ACH refund

CBP's direct deposit setup for refunds. You add your bank details in ACE. CBP pays IEEPA refunds only this way, so without it your refund waits. In September, about $1.3 billion in refunds was on hold for missing bank info.

Related: ACH debit, ACE Portal account

A duty charged as a percentage of what the goods are worth, like 10 percent of the value. Most IEEPA tariffs were charged this way.

Related: Entered value

When the government subtracts money you owe it, like an open CBP bill, from a refund before paying you. It's been reported with IEEPA refunds, so it's worth checking for any open bills before counting on the full amount.

Related: Certified for payment, ACH refund

Extra duties on specific products from specific countries, set after a trade investigation finds unfair pricing or subsidies. They aren't part of the IEEPA refund.

Related: Section 232, Section 301

Asking a higher court to review a ruling. The government has appealed parts of the trade court's refund orders, and the outcome could affect importers who never filed their own case.

Related: Federal Circuit, Injunction

A CBP-approved facility where imports can sit without duties being paid. Duties are due when goods leave the warehouse for sale in the U.S.

Related: Warehouse entry, Warehouse withdrawal

CBP's process for paying back IEEPA duties, run inside ACE. Instead of fixing entries one at a time, you request refunds on many entries at once by uploading a list.

Related: CAPE Declaration, ACE

The file of entry numbers you upload to ask for refunds. Each file holds up to 9,999 entries. Only the importer of record, or the broker who filed those entries, can submit one.

Related: CSV file, Claim number, Validation

Opened April 20, 2026. Covers entries that haven't liquidated yet, plus entries that liquidated within the last 80 days.

Related: Unliquidated, 80-day window

Opened June 29, 2026. Added entries flagged for reconciliation that don't have a reconciliation entry filed yet.

Related: Reconciliation

Opened October 6, 2026, for finally liquidated entries. It's limited to importers with their own pending case at the Court of International Trade, whose entries are covered by a court reliquidation order. Importers who gave CBP their importer number by July 30, 2026 can file first. Later ones will get instructions from CBP.

Related: Finally liquidated, Reliquidation order, Plaintiff

The federal agency that collects duties on imports. It's also the agency processing IEEPA refunds, and one of the main sources this hub relies on.

Related: ACE, CAPE, CSMS

CBP has approved a refund and sent it to the Treasury to pay. It means the money's on its way, not that it's in your account yet.

Related: Treasury

The tracking number you get after submitting a CAPE Declaration. Use it to check status in ACE or when asking CBP about a refund.

Related: CAPE Declaration, Validation

A lawsuit brought by a few parties on behalf of a larger group. Some importers have asked the trade court to handle refund claims this way. Check the latest status before relying on one.

Related: Plaintiff, Court of International Trade

The federal court that handles customs and trade cases. Its orders are what's driving CBP's refund process, including Phase 3.

Related: Plaintiff, Federal Circuit

CBP's email bulletins to the trade. New CAPE rules and system changes usually show up here first, each with a message number.

Related: CBP, CAPE

A plain spreadsheet file. CAPE Declarations have to be uploaded as CSV files that follow CBP's template exactly, or they get rejected.

Related: CAPE Declaration, Validation

A guarantee, backed by a surety company, that an importer will pay its duties and follow customs rules. Most commercial imports need one.

Related: Importer of record, Bonded warehouse

A licensed company or person who files customs entries for importers. A broker can file CAPE Declarations only for entries they filed in the first place.

Related: Filer code

A tax on imported goods, paid to CBP. In everyday use, "duty" and "tariff" mean about the same thing.

Related: Tariff

A business's federal tax ID from the IRS. Many U.S. importers use it as their importer number with CBP.

Related: Importer number

The value of the goods you declare to customs. Percentage-based duties, including IEEPA tariffs, are figured from this number.

Related: Ad valorem duty, Entry summary

The filing that tells CBP what's coming in, what it's worth, and what duty is owed. Each shipment usually gets its own entry, and refunds are requested entry by entry.

Related: Entry number, Entry summary

The 11-character ID for each entry. It starts with the filer's three-character code. These are the numbers that go on a CAPE Declaration, and typos are a common reason claims get rejected.

Related: Filer code, Entry, Validation

The document that lists what was imported, its value, its tariff codes, and the duties paid. It's the best place to see whether IEEPA duties were charged on a shipment.

Related: Entry, HTS Chapter 99, Post Summary Correction

A two-digit code describing the kind of entry. For example, 01 is a regular import, 21 puts goods into a bonded warehouse, and 31 takes them out. The type affects which CAPE phase applies.

Related: Warehouse entry, Reconciliation, Foreign-trade zone

What you pay when goods arrive. It's treated as an estimate until CBP liquidates the entry and settles the final amount.

Related: Liquidation

The appeals court above the Court of International Trade. A pending appeal there could decide whether importers who never sued can get refunds on finally liquidated entries.

Related: Appeal, Court of International Trade

The three-character code CBP gives each broker or self-filing importer. It's the start of every entry number they file, which shows who can submit a CAPE Declaration for it.

Related: Entry number, Customs broker

An entry that liquidated more than 180 days ago with no protest filed. It's considered closed. CBP has said it can't reopen these for IEEPA refunds without a court order.

Related: CAPE Phase 3, Statute of limitations

A secure area treated as outside U.S. customs territory for duty purposes. Duties are usually paid when goods leave the zone, and those entries have their own type code.

Related: Entry type, Bonded warehouse

The official U.S. list of product codes and duty rates. Every import gets an HTS number that decides what duties apply.

Related: HTS Chapter 99, Tariff

The part of the HTS used for extra and temporary duties. IEEPA tariffs were charged under Chapter 99 numbers starting with 9903, which is how CBP spots them on an entry.

Related: HTS, IEEPA tariffs

A 1977 law that lets the President act in a national emergency, for example by freezing assets. It was used in 2025 to put tariffs on imports. In February 2026 the Supreme Court ruled it doesn't allow tariffs.

Related: Learning Resources v. Trump

Duties added under IEEPA starting in February 2025, including tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China and the "reciprocal" tariffs on goods from many countries. CBP stopped collecting them on February 24, 2026. These are the only duties being refunded.

Related: IEEPA, Tariff, HTS Chapter 99

The company legally responsible for an import, including paying the duties. The refund goes to whoever is listed as importer of record, even if someone else ended up paying the cost.

Related: Importer number, Customs broker

The ID CBP uses for an importer of record, usually its EIN. For Phase 3, importers needed one on file with CBP by July 30, 2026 to be in the first round.

Related: Importer of record, EIN, CAPE Phase 3

A court order telling someone to do, or stop doing, something. The trade court's refund orders are injunctions directing CBP to pay refunds. The government is challenging the broad ones that cover importers who never sued.

Related: Appeal, Court of International Trade

CBP adds interest to IEEPA refunds, so you get back more than the duties alone.

Related: Certified for payment, Treasury

The Supreme Court case, decided 6-3 on February 20, 2026, that held IEEPA doesn't give the President power to set tariffs. It's the reason refunds exist.

Related: IEEPA, IEEPA tariffs

An entry CBP has finished calculating. For 180 days afterward, the result can still be challenged with a protest.

Related: Liquidation, 180-day protest window, 80-day window

CBP's final calculation of what you owe on an entry, usually about 10 months after the goods arrive. Where an entry stands in this process decides which refund path applies.

Related: Unliquidated, Finally liquidated

The national trade group for customs brokers and freight forwarders. It shares CBP updates and hosts refund webinars, and it's another source this hub relies on.

Related: Customs broker, CBP

The person or company that files a lawsuit. Phase 3 is only open to importers that are plaintiffs in their own pending refund case.

Related: Court of International Trade, CAPE Phase 3

A way to fix an entry summary after it's filed but before it liquidates. CBP has said not to use PSCs for IEEPA refunds. CAPE is the way to claim them.

Related: Entry summary, CAPE

A formal challenge to a CBP decision, like a liquidation, filed within 180 days. A customs attorney or broker can tell you whether one makes sense for your entries.

Related: 180-day protest window

A CBP program that lets importers file an entry now and settle some details, like final value, later. The entry is "flagged," then wrapped up with a reconciliation entry (type 09).

Related: CAPE Phase 2

CBP redoing the final calculation on an entry. For IEEPA refunds, CBP reliquidates the entry without the IEEPA duties, and the difference comes back to you.

Related: Liquidation, Reliquidation order

A court order telling CBP to recalculate specific entries. Phase 3 refunds depend on one covering your entries.

Related: Reliquidation, CAPE Phase 3, Court of International Trade

A law allowing temporary tariffs of up to 15 percent for up to 150 days. It was used after the IEEPA ruling. The trade court found those tariffs unauthorized in May 2026, and the ruling is on appeal. It's a separate issue from IEEPA refunds.

Related: IEEPA tariffs, Appeal

Tariffs set for national security reasons, like those on steel and aluminum. They aren't part of the IEEPA refund.

Related: Section 301, Antidumping and countervailing duties

Tariffs set after trade investigations, best known on goods from China. They aren't part of the IEEPA refund.

Related: Section 232, Antidumping and countervailing duties

The deadline to file a lawsuit. For closed-out IEEPA entries, reports point to a two-year window, with the earliest entries running out in early 2027. Ask a customs attorney how it applies to yours.

Related: Finally liquidated, Plaintiff

A tax on imports. "Tariff" usually means the policy or rate, and "duty" means the money paid, but people use them interchangeably.

Related: Duty, IEEPA tariffs, HTS

The agency that actually sends refund payments, after CBP approves them.

Related: Certified for payment, ACH refund

An entry CBP hasn't finished calculating yet. These are the simplest to refund and are covered by Phase 1.

Related: Liquidation, CAPE Phase 1

CBP's automatic checks on a CAPE Declaration, first on the file and then on each entry. Common failures include mismatched importer details, wrong entry numbers, files that don't match the template, and missing bank info.

Related: CSV file, Entry number, ACH refund

Brings goods into a bonded warehouse without paying duty. Since July 7, 2026, CAPE rejects these, because the duty is actually paid when goods come out.

Related: Warehouse withdrawal, Bonded warehouse

Takes goods out of a bonded warehouse and is when duty gets paid. These are the entries to list on a CAPE Declaration for warehoused goods.

Related: Warehouse entry, Bonded warehouse, CAPE Declaration