U.S. Customs and Border Protection has moved further along the development track for a dedicated process to deliver refunds to importers for recently eliminated Trump administration tariffs, but the timeline for when the system will be functional remains unclear.
The agency estimates that it is between 45% and 80% finished with development and testing of the four components of its Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries system, known as CAPE, according to a Thursday filing with the Court of International Trade.
Last week, CBP first outlined the new capability, which lives within the agency’s Automated Commercial Environment, a digital portal that finalizes entries. The system will orchestrate a four-step process for importers to request and receive refunds for tariffs President Donald Trump installed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which were removed last month following a Supreme Court ruling.
The process begins with importers filing refund claims through a dedicated portal, after which requests are mass processed and then reviewed and liquidated before a refund is delivered.
Per Thursday’s filing, the review and liquidation step is the furthest along in terms of development, with the agency having begun testing for the component. However, this remains unchanged from its status a week ago, with the agency saying further testing and development are dependent on other components of CAPE.
Meanwhile, the mass processing stage of the process remains the furthest from completion, with CBP currently working on validation and event history tracking to create clear audit trails. The agency said it plans to complete these steps and begin testing the mass processing component within the next week.
CBP reported incremental progress in the other two functions of the system, noting that it is testing the ability to consolidate refunds by liquidation date and importer of record.
Earlier this month, the Court of International Trade ordered CBP to immediately begin providing refunds for certain entries, but the agency said it needed more time to comply. The court has since put a stay on the order while CBP develops the refund process.
Although the system for refunds is inching closer to prime time, there remain questions about how well it will work and how it will handle finalized entries and niche cases.
