Trade & Customs Oct 18, 2026 · 7 min read

IEEPA refund class action: a safety net, not a payday

Tariff refund class action opens a door for small importers. Don’t wait at it. About $30 billion in struck-down IEEPA tariffs could stay with the US government unless a new class action works, the trade court estimates (Supply Chain Dive). The court certified the class on 8 October. Scheduling filings are due Thursday, 22 October. Our view: this is a backstop, not a payout. No refund has been ordered yet. The government may appeal (Steptoe). Brazil and India duties are excluded (Davis Wright Tremaine). Brokers should flag every client who never used CAPE, the customs refund portal. We expect no class-wide refund money before the end of Q1 2027.

The IEEPA refund class action covers $30 billion. Small importers should not bank on it.
About $30 billion in unlawful tariffs could stay with the US government unless a new class action succeeds. That is the estimate of the Court of International Trade (CIT), the federal court that handles customs disputes, as reported by Supply Chain Dive. On 8 October, Judge Richard K. Eaton certified a class in the lead refund case, Freestyle World v. United States. The class is every importer of record that paid the struck-down tariffs between 1 February 2025 and 19 February 2026 and has not sued on its own. The court held a closed conference with the parties on 13 October. Proposed scheduling for the next filings is due this Thursday, 22 October.
Our view: this matters most for the small importers who have done nothing so far. For them it is a real lifeline. But it is a slow one. No refund has been ordered, an appeal is likely, and some claims fall outside the class entirely. Any importer with a claim worth paying a lawyer for should not wait for the class.

How we got here

The tariffs in question were imposed under IEEPA, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, an emergency-powers law. The Supreme Court ruled the IEEPA tariffs illegal on 20 February 2026 (Steptoe). The CIT then ordered US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to refund what it had collected.
The sums are large. CBP estimated about $166 billion was collected unlawfully. That covers roughly 53 million entries and about 330,000 importers (Steptoe). Most of it has gone back. CBP built a portal called CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries) to process claims. As of early October, about $136.6 billion in potential and certified refunds had been accepted into CAPE. About $126 billion in duties plus interest had been refunded (Steptoe). Davis Wright Tremaine put it this way: as of 2 October, “over 75% of the roughly $166 billion in IEEPA duties collected have been refunded with interest.”
CAPE has grown in stages. A CH Robinson client advisory dated 17 September said about $122 billion, including interest, had been “certified and transmitted to the U.S. Treasury for payment.” It counted more than 286,000 CAPE declarations, with over 201,000 accepted. Phase 3 of CAPE was due to go live on 6 October. It handles “finally liquidated” entries, but only those covered by court-ordered reliquidation (CH Robinson). Liquidation is Customs’ final calculation of duty on an entry. An entry counts as “finally liquidated” once it is more than 180 days past its liquidation or reliquidation date (BDO). Steptoe’s warning is blunt: “Phase 3 currently applies only to importers that are plaintiffs in pending CIT litigation.”
That is the gap the class action targets. Importers who never sued, and whose entries are now final, have had no clear route back to their money.

What the court actually did

The CIT order says “Some importers of record have not taken advantage of CAPE.” It describes them as believed to be “overwhelmingly small importers” (Supply Chain Dive). The court also stated its goal plainly. It is “certifying a class in the hope, and expectation, that this certification will lead to the liquidation or reliquidation” of the entries in question (Supply Chain Dive, Miller & Chevalier). Steptoe says the court saw the main relief as “an order directing CBP to remove the unlawful IEEPA duties from affected entries.”
Class membership is “mandatory and fixed,” according to BDO. Covered importers do not opt in. They also cannot opt out to start a new suit of their own. Steptoe says “no steps are necessary for inclusion in the class at this point.”
Two groups sit outside the class. The first is importers who already filed their own suits. More than 4,000 such suits have been filed (Supply Chain Dive). Those importers keep pursuing their own cases. The second is importers whose only claims are under the IEEPA orders aimed at Brazilian and Indian goods. Davis Wright Tremaine says those orders are not part of the “Challenged Tariff Orders” the class covers. Those importers will need to file individually.

Why it is not money yet

Certification decides who is in the group. It does not decide whether the group gets paid. BDO says the order “does not resolve the merits of the case or grant the requested relief.” James Kim, an international trade partner at ArentFox Schiff, told Supply Chain Dive: “The decision doesn’t immediately expand refund eligibility or direct payment.” He added that it creates “a potential path forward” for importers who have not sued.
Then there are the appeals. The Justice Department is already appealing the order that requires CBP to refund all finally liquidated entries. Its argument is that the court can only order those refunds for importers who sued (Supply Chain Dive). Davis Wright Tremaine says oral argument in that appeal is “to be scheduled soon.” The class order itself could be next. Steptoe writes: “It is possible that the government may appeal the class-certification decision.” Miller & Chevalier warns that the decision “remains subject to appeal” and “could be overturned.”
On timing, BDO expects the fight to “extend into early 2027.” It says it could run later still if the case reaches the Supreme Court. Davis Wright Tremaine notes that Judge Eaton has not yet issued a classwide relief order. It suggests he is unlikely to do so before the government answers the complaint.
Compare that with going it alone. Davis Wright Tremaine says that in its experience, individual refund orders have come within four business days of filing. Steptoe says “the most expeditious means to seek refunds is to file your own complaint at the CIT.”

What this means for forwarders and brokers

Most importers who matter to a forwarder’s book have probably already claimed through CAPE or sued. The class is about the long tail. That means small e-commerce sellers, one-off importers and occasional shippers who paid duties in 2025 and moved on. Many of them use a forwarder or broker as their only customs contact. That makes the broker the most likely person to tell them about the class.
We think brokers should do four things this quarter.
First, sort clients into groups. Who used CAPE? Who sued? Who did neither? Who had Brazil or India IEEPA duties? Who has finally liquidated entries? Each group has a different next step.
Second, tell the “did neither” group that they are probably in the class. Tell them just as clearly that being in the class does not mean a cheque is coming.
Third, push anyone with a material claim to talk to customs counsel now. The deadline matters. Davis Wright Tremaine says “the limitations period for filing a refund case under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i) runs through February 4, 2027, at the earliest.” Miller & Chevalier advises importers excluded from CAPE to consider filing their own suit before any limitations period runs out, unless class relief becomes clearly available first.
Fourth, fix the basics. BDO tells importers to “Confirm access to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE),” CBP’s online system, and to set up ACH refund payments with CBP. This is not a small point. CH Robinson reported that about 20,184 refunds worth $1.3 billion were on hold because “the importer of record has not provided ACH banking information.” Money has already been approved and is sitting unpaid because of missing bank details.
There is a cash-flow angle too. For a small importer, a refund on 2025 duties can be a meaningful share of a year’s margin. Forwarders that help clients recover it build loyalty that a rate quote never will. Forwarders that stay silent risk clients hearing about it from a competitor or a law firm’s marketing email.

What happens next

The near-term calendar is short. The scheduling filings due on 22 October should show how fast Judge Eaton wants to move. They should also show whether the government plans to fight the class order or answer the complaint first. The Federal Circuit appeal on finally liquidated entries is the bigger swing factor. If the government wins there, the court’s power to order refunds for non-plaintiffs shrinks, and the class could lose much of its value.
Our prediction: the government will appeal the class certification by the end of November 2026. No class member will receive an IEEPA refund through the class before the end of Q1 2027. Before the 4 February 2027 limitations date, we expect a fresh wave of individual CIT suits from mid-sized importers that decide waiting is too risky. The importers left relying on the class alone will be the smallest ones. For them, this case is the only way to get any of that $30 billion back.

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