US Customs and Border Protection has switched on a new electronic refund system to process up to $127 billion of the $166 billion in tariffs collected from more than 330,000 importers under the now-invalidated International Emergency Economic Powers Act. That is according to filings with the US Court of International Trade, which last month ordered the agency to build a mass refund mechanism after the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling against President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs on 20 February.
Wood Central understands the $39 billion gap between the two figures reflects entries that fall outside the agency’s Phase 1 eligibility window, covering shipments liquidated more than 80 days before Monday’s launch, entries tied to duty drawbacks, warehouse entries still under customs review, and any claims filed outside the electronic customs system. Those cases will be handled in later phases that the agency has yet to schedule, or pushed into separate legal action through the Court of International Trade.
Known as Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), the refund tool is available within the existing Automated Commercial Environment portal and accepts CSV uploads of up to 9,999 entry numbers per declaration. Those successful claims will be paid electronically via ACH within 60 to 90 days, with payments consolidated by the importer of record rather than processed entry by entry.
CBP executive director of trade programs Brandon Lord told the Court of International Trade last week that CAPE development was between 85% and 95% complete across all components, with the agency in an “intensive testing posture” ahead of Monday’s launch. As of 14 April, 56,497 importers had completed the ACH banking registration required to receive any refund payment, covering the bulk of the $127 billion Phase 1 pool.
For importers of cross-laminated timber and engineered panels, the portal opens a potential path to recover duties on European-sourced products caught by the now-invalidated reciprocal tariffs, with Austria-sourced CLT particularly exposed. In 2024, the United States imported 16,200 cubic metres of CLT, 29.2% of it from Austria, with refunds now potentially available on the IEEPA portion of those duties.
Huge volumes of predominantly Canadian softwood won’t be refunded
Solid softwood lumber, however, currently sits outside the CAPE refund perimeter because it falls under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 rather than IEEPA, meaning the 10% global lumber tariff active since 14 October 2025 remains in place. The same applies to the 10% Section 122 surcharge introduced on 24 February, which runs through 24 July 2026 and cannot be refunded through CAPE or any other mechanism.
Phase 1 is narrow by design, and small importers without legal counsel may find themselves particularly exposed if they miss the 80-day liquidation window or file entries incorrectly. Fortune this week cited one customs attorney warning that processing glitches could translate into “permanent loss of refund rights” for claimants who move too slowly or file outside the strict CAPE format.
The launch follows Wood Central’s reporting on the Section 122 surcharge introduced on 24 February, which replaced IEEPA as the administration’s main tariff vehicle for non-USMCA imports at a 10% rate. With Section 122 scheduled to expire on 24 July 2026 unless Congress authorises an extension, the next 90 days will determine whether the administration pursues a further replacement authority or allows general tariff pressure to ease.
Tariff collections hit $30 billion in January alone, pushing year-to-date revenue to $124 billion — a 304% jump on the same period in 2025, and a figure that will keep the CAPE refund pipeline busy well into 2027.
