CBP Reports Progress on Administrative Refund Process But Questions Remain

Today, in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) provided an update via a declaration to the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) regarding its progress on implementing an administrative procedure for filing IEEPA tariff refund claims through CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (“ACE”).  CBP states that it has designed a new functionality in ACE that it calls the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (“CAPE”). According to CBP, CAPE will have four components: a claims portal, mass processing, review and liquidation/reliquidation, and refunds.  The declaration describes how CBP intends for each component to work and estimates that CBP’s development is between 60% – 80% complete depending on the component.  
 
Soon after the declaration was filed, the CIT issued an order finding CBP’s progress to be “satisfactory.” The order further suspends the court’s March 5 amended order that required CBP to issue all IEEPA refunds at liquidation. The CIT ordered CBP to file another declaration describing its progress on March 19.  The CIT’s order also highlights CBP’s Interim Final Rule (published January 2) that describes the steps importers should take to receive refunds electronically through ACE.  The order references CBP’s prior declaration, which indicated that the refund process can be “expedited” for importers that take the steps necessary to receive electronic refunds as described in the Interim Final Rule.
 
Although CBP’s new declaration and the CIT’s new order indicate progress, there is still much uncertainty regarding the timing of this proposed administrative process, whether it will cover entries that have been liquidated for more than 90 days, and whether the Government intends to appeal the CIT’s orders.  We will keep you updated on any further developments.