Tariff Refund Glossary

ACE: Automated Commercial Environment, CBP's system for filing and tracking imports. Importers use it to pull entry and refund reports.
ACH refund: An electronic payment of a CBP refund directly to the Importer of Record's bank account. Refunds can be held if ACH details are missing.
AD/CVD: Antidumping and countervailing duties, charged on certain goods sold below fair value or subsidized abroad. AD/CVD entries have been excluded from CAPE.
CAPE: Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, the tool CBP built to process IEEPA duty refunds in phases starting April 20, 2026.
CBP: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that collects import duties and processes refunds.
Court of International Trade (CIT): The federal court that hears disputes over customs duties, including IEEPA refund cases.
Customs broker: A person or company licensed by CBP to prepare and file customs documents on behalf of importers.
Drawback: A refund of duties on imported goods that are later exported or destroyed. Drawback-related entries have been excluded from CAPE.
Entry summary (CBP Form 7501): The document that reports what was imported, its classification and value, and the duties owed.
Finally liquidated: An entry whose liquidation can no longer be protested or corrected through normal administrative steps.
HTS code: The Harmonized Tariff Schedule number that classifies a product and determines its duty rates.
IEEPA: The International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026 that it does not authorize tariffs.
Importer of Record (IOR): The party responsible for an import and for paying its duties. Only the Importer of Record receives IEEPA refunds.
Liquidation: CBP's final computation of the duties owed on an entry.
Post-summary correction (PSC): A correction to an entry summary filed before the entry liquidates.
Protest (CBP Form 19): An administrative challenge to a CBP decision, such as liquidation. Generally due within 180 days after liquidation.
Reciprocal tariff: The country-by-country tariffs announced on April 2, 2025 under IEEPA, starting with a 10 percent baseline.
Reliquidation: CBP recalculating duties on an entry that was already liquidated, for example under a court order.
Section 232: A trade law used to impose duties on grounds of national security, including on steel, aluminum, autos, and auto parts. Not part of the IEEPA refund.
Section 301: A trade law used to impose duties in response to unfair trade practices, most notably on many goods from China. Not part of the IEEPA refund.

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