Liquidated vs. Unliquidated Entries: Why It Matters for CAPE Phase 1 Refunds

2026 context: The Supreme Court held IEEPA doesn't authorize tariffs (Feb. 20, 2026) and CBP stopped collecting IEEPA duties effective Feb. 24, 2026. CBP announced CAPE Phase 1 would launch April 20, 2026 via CSMS #68315804 (approx. Apr. 10, 2026). The March 27 CIT order in Atmus Filtration directed CBP to reliquidate even finally liquidated entries; that case was later dismissed (Apr. 6, 2026) and the refund order was re-issued in a new lead case (Euro-Notions). (Supreme Court opinion, CBP CSMS #67834313)

Informational only — not legal advice.

1) What "liquidation" means

Liquidation is CBP's final computation and assessment of duties on an entry — the moment when the duty amounts become legally fixed unless you take timely action. It is the pivot point for every IEEPA refund path.

Before liquidation, CBP reviews the entry summary, verifies classifications, and can be corrected by the importer (via a Post Summary Correction). After liquidation, the entry is "closed" from CBP's perspective, and the remedy shifts to a formal protest under 19 U.S.C. § 1514.

The statute governing liquidation timing — including extensions and suspensions — is 19 U.S.C. § 1504. CBP's overview of how liquidation and protests connect is at CBP — Protests.

Why this matters for CAPE: CAPE's refund mechanism works through reliquidation — CBP reliquidates the entry at $0 IEEPA duties and issues a refund. Reliquidation requires CBP to have the legal authority to reopen the entry. That authority exists only for entries that are unliquidated or recently liquidated within the voluntary reliquidation window. Once an entry is finally liquidated, CBP has no administrative authority to reopen it without a court order.

2) The three liquidation buckets (and what CAPE does with each)

Bucket 1 — Unliquidated entries (fully covered by Phase 1)

An unliquidated entry has not yet had its duties formally assessed by CBP. These are the straightforward cases.

Under CAPE Phase 1, importers and brokers submit a CAPE Declaration through ACE identifying their IEEPA-affected entries. CBP processes the declaration and reliquidates without applying IEEPA duties — typically within 45 days of acceptance. Phase 1 also covers entries with Suspended, Extended, or Under Review liquidation status.

What to do: Gather your entry numbers, confirm IOR, and prepare to submit a CAPE Declaration after April 20 through ACE.

Bucket 2 — Recently liquidated entries (covered by Phase 1 via reliquidation)

An entry liquidated within the preceding 80 days is eligible for CAPE Phase 1 — because CBP can still reliquidate it before the 90-day voluntary reliquidation window closes.

The statutory basis is 19 U.S.C. § 1501, which authorizes CBP to voluntarily reliquidate an entry within 90 days of the date of notice of original liquidation. CBP uses 80 days (not 90) as the CAPE acceptance cutoff to leave a 10-day processing buffer before the statutory deadline expires.

Why the gap matters: If your entry liquidated 85+ days ago, it may have crossed out of Phase 1 eligibility even if it doesn't yet feel "old." Liquidation date — not shipment date or delivery date — controls eligibility.

What to do: Check liquidation dates against the 80-day cutoff as of April 20. Entries that are 80+ days post-liquidation are not eligible for Phase 1.

Bucket 3 — Finally liquidated entries (deferred to Phase 2)

A finally liquidated entry is one where the 90-day voluntary reliquidation window under 19 U.S.C. § 1501 has expired. CBP's administrative authority to reopen the entry is gone.

CAPE Phase 1 cannot touch these entries. They go to Phase 2 — which has no announced launch date as of April 2026.

CBP estimates Phase 1 will cover approximately 63% of IEEPA-affected entries. That means roughly 37% of entries — primarily finally liquidated — will not be processed until Phase 2. (CBP March 31, 2026 status report to the CIT)

Important: entries with open protests are also excluded from Phase 1. If you filed a protest on an entry that would otherwise qualify for Phase 1, CBP will route it to Phase 2. This exclusion is intentional — CBP doesn't want to administratively reliquidate entries that are already in administrative proceedings.

3) What the March 27 CIT order changed (and didn't)

Prior to March 27, 2026, the CIT's IEEPA refund orders in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States (Court No. 26-01259) only addressed unliquidated entries and entries not yet finally liquidated. Finally liquidated entries were explicitly left out.

On March 27, 2026, CIT Senior Judge Richard K. Eaton issued an amended order expanding coverage to finally liquidated entries. The order directed CBP to "reliquidate even those entries for which liquidation is already final, again without applying IEEPA duties." This was a significant expansion — it established a court-ordered legal mandate for refunds on the ~37% of entries that CAPE Phase 1 cannot reach administratively.

Critical caveats:

1. The order suspended immediate compliance — CBP was not required to act at once; it was required to make satisfactory progress. CAPE Phase 2 is the planned operational vehicle to execute this mandate.

2. The Atmus Filtration case was voluntarily dismissed on April 6, 2026. Judge Eaton re-issued the refund order in a new lead case — Euro-Notions — which is now the governing case. The legal mandate survives; the case vehicle changed.

3. The court order does not mean refunds on finally liquidated entries are automatic or on a certain timeline. Phase 2 has no announced launch date and no detailed public operational framework as of April 2026.

4) How to check your entry's liquidation status

Liquidation status is entry-level data — you cannot infer it from shipment date, delivery date, or invoice date. You need:

• ACE Portal: If you have ACE access, you can view liquidation status and dates directly for entries associated with your importer account.
• Customs broker reports: Your broker should be able to generate an entry summary report showing liquidation status/date for each affected entry. Ask specifically for a report with liquidation date, not just entry date.
• Form 7501 data: The entry date on your 7501 is a starting point for estimating when liquidation may have occurred (CBP typically liquidates within one year of entry), but do not use it as a substitute for actual liquidation data.

If you cannot obtain liquidation dates quickly, triage by identifying your oldest affected entries first — entries from early 2025 are more likely to be finally liquidated than entries from late 2025.

See CBP Form 7501 overview for the canonical entry summary format reference.

5) Why this is the #1 question importers will have after April 20

CAPE Phase 1 will generate confusion because the portal is real, it launches April 20, and it works — but it visibly excludes a large chunk of entries. Importers with a mix of entry vintages will see some entries process smoothly and others return "not eligible for Phase 1" messages.

The reason is almost always liquidation status. The confusion typically comes from:

• Assuming all entries from the same period are treated the same. They are not. Two entries from the same shipment could have different liquidation dates if cleared at different ports or processed at different speeds by CBP.
• Not knowing when liquidation actually occurred. Many importers track entry dates but not liquidation dates. For CAPE Phase 1 purposes, entry date is irrelevant — only liquidation status matters.
• Expecting Phase 2 to launch imminently. CBP has not announced a Phase 2 timeline. The 37% of finally liquidated entries may wait months.

6) What to do right now if you have finally liquidated entries

If the entry is within 180 days of liquidation

File a protective protest under 19 U.S.C. § 1514 before the deadline expires. This preserves your administrative refund rights regardless of what happens with Phase 2.

Important: once you file a protest, the entry will be excluded from CAPE Phase 1 and routed to Phase 2 instead. That is the correct outcome for a finally liquidated entry — Phase 2 is its intended path.

Protests can be filed electronically in ACE (with a protest filer account) or by paper at the port of entry. See CBP — Protests and CBP — Protest (ACE guidance).

Protest deadline reminder: deadline = liquidation date + 180 days — per entry, not one date for everyone. See Deadlines: Liquidation + the 180-Day Clock for how to compute and calendar these.

If the 180-day protest window has also closed

These entries face the greatest uncertainty. Their refund path depends on:

1. Phase 2 being built, launched, and covering them as ordered by the CIT, or
2. A separate court order in their favor.

CBP has not announced a Phase 2 timeline. Importers with high-value finally liquidated entries where the protest window has closed should consult a licensed customs attorney about whether filing a CIT action is appropriate to preserve rights.

Set up ACH for electronic refunds

Refunds under CAPE are routed to the Importer of Record (or a Form 4811 designee) by liquidation/reliquidation date. To receive electronic refunds, the IOR needs an active ACH setup in ACE. See CBP — ACH Refunds FAQs.

7) Quick reference: the three buckets