Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on April 20 will launch the first phase of the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) tool in the ACE Secure Data Portal. “CAPE will simplify International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duty refund requests made pursuant to court order and in accordance with appropriate statutory authority by providing an electronic pathway to submit valid IEEPA duty refund claims,” CBP said.

CAPE is designed to consolidate refunds of IEEPA duties including interest rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis. CBP said it plans to implement CAPE through a phased development approach, adding more functionality in subsequent phases for more complicated scenarios. CAPE Phase 1 is limited to certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation.

Requesting refunds of IEEPA duties requires only the following summarized actions:

• Importers of Record (IORs) and authorized Customs brokers have an established ACE Secure Data Portal account (ACE Portal account)

• Refund recipients use the ACE Portal account to provide CBP with bank account information for refunds

• IORs and authorized Customs brokers submit CAPE Declarations in the ACE Portal

The CAPE process starts with the filing of the CAPE Declaration in the ACE Portal by the IOR or the authorized broker who filed entries on behalf of the IOR. Once accepted, CBP will remove the IEEPA Harmonized Tariff Schedule number and recalculate the duties due without IEEPA, updating the entry to a new version. CBP will review the updated version of the entry and liquidate or reliquidate. Refunds will be consolidated by IOR or the party designated via CBP Form 4811 and liquidation date.