A single judge on the US Court of International Trade has issued an order on March 4, 2026, that suggests the possibility of tariff refunds but raises more questions than it answers. The judge stated that the “Chief Judge [of the Court of International Trade] has indicated that I am the only judge who will hear cases pertaining to the refund of IEEPA duties.” He then ordered US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to take two specific actions.
Unliquidated entries
The judge first addressed “any and all unliquidated entries” that were subject to IEEPA tariffs. He ordered CBP to liquidate those entries “without regard to the IEEPA duties.” In plain language, this means that the judge told CBP to remove all IEEPA tariffs from entries for which CBP has not yet finalized its review. The implication of this is that CBP would need to issue many refunds when it finalizes its review of these entries.
Liquidated entries
The second portion of the judge’s order addresses liquidated entries “for which liquidation is not final.” This addresses entries that are liquidated but still subject to protest by importers. The judge ordered CBP to reliquidate those entries “without regard to IEEPA duties.” In plain language, this means that where CBP has finished its review and finalized its decisions on the amounts due, CBP is required to re-open those entries and recalculate them without the IEEPA tariffs. This would also result in refunds.
The judge did not appear to address another category of entries: liquidations that are final. This would include liquidated entries that have not had any protests filed prior to the 180-day deadline. Those entries remain in limbo.
Stay ahead of uncertain IEEPA refund timeline
We do not think this is the final word on refunds for IEEPA tariffs. This order does not provide detailed instructions to CBP about how it should accomplish the aims of the order or when CBP must take and finish the actions ordered. In addition, the Department of Justice (DOJ) may challenge the judge’s order.
Just two days before this ruling, DOJ opposed the plaintiff’s request that the court order CBP to suspend liquidation (i.e., suspend its final review) of entries that have IEEPA tariffs. That is an indication that DOJ is likely to seek to have this recent order reconsidered or reviewed on appeal, so, although the ruling is a positive indication that the Court of International Trade is interested in correcting the unlawful collection of IEEPA tariffs, DOJ has shown no inclination to acquiesce and agree to the prompt refund of the tariffs.
Our current advice is for clients to continue to take proactive steps to protect their substantial financial interests in the refunds until we have final decisions that are no longer subject to change on appeal.