IEEPA Tariffs Struck Down: How to Claim Your Refund

On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not give the president the power to impose tariffs.1 The ruling immediately invalidated two years of tariff orders, including the "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs and the "fentanyl emergency" tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. Twelve days later, the Court of International Trade ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to refund every dollar collected under IEEPA to every affected importer of record, not just those who filed suit.3

For US importers who paid IEEPA duties between early 2025 and February 24, 2026, this is potentially significant money coming back. CBP collected more than $130 billion in IEEPA duties from over 330,000 importers across more than 53 million entries.2 The refund system is still being built, but some protest deadlines are already ticking. This is what you need to know.

What the Supreme Court Actually Decided

IEEPA gives the president power to "regulate" imports during a declared national emergency. The Court held that this does not include the power to levy duties, because the Constitution reserves taxing power to Congress. Tariff authority requires explicit delegation, and IEEPA contains none of the usual signals: no mention of duties, no rate caps, no time limits, no procedural requirements.

The ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by five others, invalidated both the fentanyl-related tariffs (effective February 4, 2025) and the country-specific reciprocal tariffs imposed on Liberation Day (April 2, 2025). All duties collected under IEEPA between those dates and February 24, 2026, are now eligible for refund.

How Much Could You Get Back?

According to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, the government collected between $130 billion and $175 billion in IEEPA duties total, with the higher figure including accrued interest.2 Your specific refund depends on import volume, origin countries, and which rates applied to your goods.

High-volume importers sourcing from China, the EU, or other countries hit by the Liberation Day reciprocal tariffs will see the largest refunds. Businesses primarily importing USMCA-compliant goods from Canada or Mexico face smaller exposure. Even importers with modest volumes may find several thousand dollars on the table. It is worth checking before the deadlines arrive.

Which Tariffs Are Eligible

Only duties paid under IEEPA authority qualify. Here is what is included:

• Fentanyl tariffs: Additional duties on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico collected from February 4, 2025 through February 24, 2026.

• Liberation Day reciprocal tariffs: Country-specific duties on imports from dozens of countries, collected from April 2, 2025 through February 24, 2026.

• Venezuela, Brazil, Russia tariffs: Additional IEEPA tariffs imposed on goods from these specific countries are also eligible.

What does not qualify: Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods (the long-standing China tariffs that predate Trump), Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and the new Section 122 tariff that replaced IEEPA. You need to isolate only the IEEPA duty lines from your entry summaries.

In CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system, run the Entry Summary details report (ES-003) and filter for HTS subheadings 9903.01.XX and 9903.02.XX. Those are the IEEPA duty codes.4 Export to a spreadsheet and you have your refund exposure documented.

What Replaced IEEPA: The Section 122 Tariff

Within hours of the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration imposed a new tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, effective February 24, 2026.5 Unlike IEEPA, Section 122 was specifically designed to authorize import surcharges, so it does not face the same constitutional vulnerability.

The current rate is 10%, applied uniformly to all imports from all countries. It replaces the patchwork of country-specific IEEPA reciprocal rates. For most importers, the flat 10% is actually lower than the Liberation Day rate they were paying. Goods already subject to Section 232 duties (steel, aluminum, automobiles) are excluded from Section 122, and USMCA-compliant goods from Canada and Mexico are also exempt.

The key catch: Section 122 has a 150-day statutory limit and expires July 24, 2026, unless Congress acts to extend it. The administration has signaled it may raise the rate to the 15% statutory cap, but no formal action had been taken as of early March 2026. What happens after July 24 is genuinely unclear, and that uncertainty is the biggest planning challenge importers face right now.

What to Do Before the Deadlines Hit

The refund mechanism is still being built. CBP told the court it needs roughly 45 days to build new ACE functionality capable of handling 53 million entries, putting the earliest processing window around mid-April 2026. The court temporarily paused its immediate refund order on March 6 while CBP develops this system. But the steps below should happen now, before the mechanism goes live.

• Get or activate your ACE account: Refunds will be processed only through CBP's Automated Commercial Environment. If you do not have an account, apply now. CBP is already experiencing delays, and you need this in place before the system opens.

• Enroll in ACH electronic refunds: Refunds will be issued electronically only. No paper checks will be issued. You need an ACE account to enroll in Automated Clearing House payments. If a customs broker manages your entries, confirm whether refunds are routed to you or to them.

• Pull your entry summaries: Run the ES-003 report in ACE, filter for HTS codes 9903.01.XX and 9903.02.XX, and export to a spreadsheet. This gives you a clear refund estimate and a documented record of what you are owed.

• Identify your liquidation status: Unliquidated entries will be automatically reliquidated without IEEPA duties under the court order, once the CBP system is live. For already-liquidated entries where CBP has finalized the assessment, you may need to file a formal protest to recover the duty.

• Review your supplier and broker agreements: If goods were imported under a DDP arrangement, a first-sale valuation, or a contract where a supplier or broker fronted the duty, the refund may not automatically flow to you. Check who legally paid the duty and what your contracts say about tariff adjustments or refunds.

The 180-Day Protest Window Is Not Abstract

Importers generally have 180 days from the date of CBP liquidation to file a protest and request a refund.4 If your entries were liquidated in December 2025 or January 2026, your protest window closes in June or July 2026. That is not far away, especially given how long CBP will take to stand up the new system.

Missing the protest deadline likely means forfeiting your legal right to that portion of the refund. The government will almost certainly appeal the CIT order, and further court decisions could change the landscape before refunds actually process. TD Securities estimates the full rollout could take 12 to 18 months.3 Preserving your claim now costs very little. Losing it means forfeiting everything you were owed.

For high-volume importers, retaining a trade attorney or a licensed customs broker who specializes in entry audits and protests is a sound investment right now. The procedural details here matter, and CBP has never run a refund program at this scale before.

What This Means for Your Landed Cost Planning

The shift from IEEPA to Section 122 changes your math. If you were paying Liberation Day reciprocal tariff rates on goods from the EU, India, or other high-rate countries, you are now paying a flat 10% instead, which is a real reduction in landed cost. That window lasts through July 24.

The problem is what comes next. The administration will need to use other legal tools (Section 232 or Section 301 investigations) to reimpose tariffs after July, and those processes take time. There is a real possibility that tariff pressure eases for a period mid-year, then ratchets back up in late 2026. Building that scenario into your purchasing and inventory planning now, rather than reacting to it in real time, is the move.

If you want help auditing your IEEPA exposure, calculating your potential refund, or thinking through how the new tariff structure affects your specific trade lanes, the team at Cubic can help. Our customs brokerage specialists work with importers on exactly this kind of entry review and protest filing. Get in touch and we can walk through your situation.