U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is developing a new system within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) to process refund claims tied to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). On March 12, CBP provided an update on the project to the Court of International Trade (CIT) in a filing submitted by Brandon Lord, Executive Director of Trade Programs in CBP’s Office of Trade, to Robert Eaton.
The new functionality, called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), will allow importers to submit IEEPA refund claims through a web-based portal integrated into ACE.
CAPE Claim Portal
At the center of the system is the CAPE Claim Portal, which will serve as the entry point for submitting refund requests, known as “CAPE Declarations.” Once launched, importers will see a new CAPE tab in their ACE portal accounts.
CBP said the system is being built around four integrated components:
- Claim Portal
- Mass Processing
- Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation
- Refund
According to CBP, these components reflect both the expected flow of refund requests through the system and how the agency is structuring its development work.
Development Progress
As of March 11, CBP reported the following progress:
- Claim Portal – 70% complete: The user interface has been finished, and CBP is now building automated validations and error reporting features for filers.
- Mass Processing – 40% complete: This component will automatically remove applicable IEEPA tariff numbers from validated entry summaries and then run ACE duty calculation validations. Development is currently focused on automated entry summary updates and related checks.
- Review and Liquidation/Reliquidation – 80% complete: This feature will initiate the review and liquidation process for entries listed in an accepted CAPE Declaration. Entries will be scheduled to liquidate or reliquidate after a set number of days, allowing CBP to conduct manual reviews when necessary. Processing will occur Monday through Thursday each week.
- Refund – 60% complete: CBP has built the refund processing functions within the ACE Collections module and is currently performance testing the refund consolidation process.
Initial Scope
Once operational, the first phase of CAPE is expected to handle most formal and informal entries on which IEEPA duties were paid. However, certain entries will be excluded initially, including:
- Unliquidated entries subject to antidumping or countervailing duties
- Entries with ACE liquidation statuses such as “Suspended,” “Extended,” or “Under Review”
- Certain specialized entry types, including warehouse withdrawals and entries tied to drawback claims
CBP said additional guidance will be issued to explain the scope and functionality of each phase of CAPE as the system is rolled out.
Schayer urges importers, if they haven’t already, to set up their ACE portal account and submit banking information in order to receive electronic refunds via ACH.
If you have questions please contact your Schayer representative.
*Disclaimer: The articles provided reflect our perspective and are created by our employees. They do not constitute legal documents or comprehensive information. For further inquiries, please contact our staff for additional details.