CAPE Launches April 20 Only Original Broker Can File, Section 232 Full Value Live, Section 338 could be next up.
CAPE Launches April 20 and Only Your Original Broker Can File
CBP published final guidance on CAPE this week. The system goes live April 20. Refunds are opt in. Nothing automatic. You submit entry data via CSV through the ACE Portal and prove you paid IEEPA duties.
Here is what changed from the March 31 guidance.
Only the importer of record or the licensed customs broker who filed the original entries can submit CAPE Declarations. Not your current broker. Not a new broker. The broker who actually filed the entry.
Remember that broker you fired because they could not get a single HTS code right? The one who missed every tariff change and buried you in PSCs? They are the only ones who can file for IEEPA refunds on the entries they filed.
A broker can include up to 9,999 entries on a single CAPE Declaration. They can file multiple declarations. But they can only file for entries they originally filed.
Here is the problem. Once a CAPE Declaration is filed and accepted, it cannot be amended. You get one shot. If the broker misses entries, they have to file a new declaration. If the broker includes the wrong entries, those entries get rejected and cannot be submitted again on a different declaration.
CBP now estimates refunds will be issued within 60 to 90 days following acceptance of the CAPE Declaration, unless there is a compliance concern. That is longer than the 45 days estimated in March. From submission to refund could be three months.
The timeline matters for cash flow planning. If you have entries spanning multiple brokers, your refunds will come in waves as each broker submits their declarations and CBP processes them. The broker who moves first gets their refunds processed first. The broker who drags their feet delays your money.
Phase 1 still covers entries that are unliquidated or liquidated within 80 days. Entries with liquidation status of suspended, extended, or under review can be included but will maintain that status until resolved. Refunds for those entries get issued at liquidation, not when the declaration is accepted.
That creates another timing issue. If you have entries that are suspended pending AD/CVD instructions, you can include them on your CAPE Declaration now. CBP will validate the refund. But you will not see the money until those entries liquidate. If the suspension drags on for months, your refund sits in limbo.
Phase 1 still excludes entries flagged for reconciliation, entries designated on a drawback claim, entries covered by an open protest, entries not filed in ACE and entries subject to AD/CVD duties pending liquidation. Finally liquidated entries are excluded. CBP will address these in subsequent phases with no confirmed timeline.
Importers and brokers must have an ACE Portal account. Recipients must provide bank account information through the ACE Portal. No ACH enrollment means no refund. CBP will hold the refund until ACH information is available.
The importer of record or the party designated by the IOR on CBP Form 4811 will receive the refund. If you have not updated your ACE Portal account with current ACH information, you will not receive a refund.
This is not hypothetical. As of March 26, importers filing 22% of entries subject to IEEPA tariffs had not completed ACH enrollment. That is nearly one in four importers who cannot receive refunds until they update their banking information.
File protests on anything still protectable. The court order covers unliquidated entries and liquidated entries still within the 180 day protest window. If you have entries that went final liquidated before the ruling and the protest clock has run out, those are not covered yet.
Audit Your Entries Before You File CAPE Declarations
Before you coordinate with every broker who filed your entries during the IEEPA period, audit what they actually filed.
You are submitting refund requests to a federal agency that has $166 billion reasons to scrutinize every claim. Every CAPE Declaration is an invitation for CBP to review your classification, valuation and tariff applicability across the board.
CBP is not going to rubber stamp these refunds. They are going to look at every entry on your declaration and ask whether the classification was correct, whether the valuation was accurate, whether the right tariff treatment was applied. If they find errors, the refund gets delayed. If they find serious errors, you are looking at a full audit.
The IEEPA refund window is your chance to audit what your brokers filed on your behalf. You need to know exactly how much you are owed in IEEPA refunds and whether your brokers made classification or valuation errors that created additional overpayments beyond IEEPA.
The velocity of change in 2025 and 2026 has been unprecedented. Section 232 changed three times. Chapter 99 codes shifted weekly. IEEPA got struck down. USMCA is under review. Section 301 investigations are expanding. Section 338 is suddenly in play.
Brokers who are manually tracking all of this are missing things. They cannot keep up. The errors are inevitable. Get ahead of this before filing for refunds.
Section 232 Full Value Tariffs Now in Effect
As of April 6, Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper apply to the full customs value of imported goods, not just the metal content.
Articles made entirely or almost entirely of aluminum, steel, or copper face 50% on full value. Derivative articles substantially made of these metals face 25% on full value. Products with 15% or less metal content by weight are exempt.
Many goods have been removed from the list of covered derivatives, including those in Chapters 1 through 71. Derivative products outside Chapters 72, 73, 74 and 76 that contain less than 15% of steel, aluminum, or copper by weight are exempt.
Metal intensive industrial equipment and electrical grid equipment get a temporary 15% rate through December 31, 2027. Products manufactured abroad using 95% or more US origin metals face a 10% rate, up from 0% under the prior structure.
UK origin articles get reduced rates if at least 95% of the product's metal was smelted or cast in the UK. Articles that would face 50% are subject to 25%. Articles that would face 25% are subject to 15%.
Russian origin aluminum products remain subject to a 200% rate on their full value.
Section 338 Could Get Activated Through Iran Weapon Suppliers
President Trump posted on Truth Social on April 8 that he would immediately impose a 50% tariff on countries supplying military weapons to Iran. No exclusions. No exemptions.
He did not specify which statutory mechanism would be used. He did not identify which countries would be affected.
Here is how Section 338 makes that legally possible.
Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 is a 96 year old statute that has never been used. It allows the President to impose up to 50% tariffs or block imports entirely on countries that discriminate against US commerce.
Country X sells weapons to Iran. Iran uses those weapons to block the Strait of Hormuz. US commerce gets disrupted. Trump administration argues that is discrimination against US commerce by Country X under Section 338. Country X faces a 50% blanket tariff on all imports and potential embargo.
The statute is remarkably short and vague. The International Trade Commission has a duty to ascertain whether countries are discriminating and bring the matter to the President. But the statute also says the President can impose tariffs whenever he finds as a fact that discrimination exists. Whether the President must wait for ITC findings or can act unilaterally is unclear because it has never been tested.
What counts as discrimination? The law does not say. Section 338 has no investigation requirement, no public disclosure requirement, and no time limits. For an administration looking to replace IEEPA tariff authority after the Supreme Court ruling, that vagueness is useful.
If the administration invokes Section 338, expect immediate legal challenges on constitutional grounds. But the legal pathway exists.
How Importal Solves This
Importal is the first AI powered licensed US customs brokerage. Our platform tracks every regulatory change in real time. When tariffs change, we catch them and apply updates to entries automatically.
The difference is that our licensed brokers have the right compliance data at their fingertips when they file your entries. When Section 232 rates change, when Chapter 99 codes shift, when new exclusions take effect, our system flags it before the entry gets filed. Not after CBP liquidates it wrong.
Traditional brokers are manually tracking CSMS messages, Federal Register notices, and executive orders. They are updating spreadsheets and hoping they caught everything. Our platform does that work in real time and surfaces it directly to our licensed brokers during entry filing.
