IEEPA refunds

CAPE and drawback on the same entries: what to file first

You can get both, in that order. File CAPE first; after CAPE settles the entry, drawback can recover up to 99% of the other duties on the goods you exported.⁠[1]

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CAPE and drawback compared

Written by the NexQloud Drawback team from the primary sources linked on this page.

What changesCAPE (IEEPA refund)Drawback
What it returnsIEEPA dutyDuties, taxes and fees on goods exported or destroyed, except AD/CVD, IEEPA fentanyl duty and barred Section 232 duty⁠[2]⁠[3]⁠[4]
How much100% of the IEEPA duty, plus interest⁠[5]Up to 99% of the eligible duty on the exported share⁠[1]
Which unitsEvery unit on the entryOnly the units exported or destroyed
WindowUnliquidated entries, or within 80 days of liquidation; after that, protest or court⁠[6]5 years from import⁠[1]
How it is filedA CSV of entry numbers uploaded in the ACE Portal; not through ABI⁠[7]A type 47 drawback entry through a CBP-authorized system⁠[8]
Who filesThe importer of record or the broker that filed the entry; refund firms work through one of themThe claimant, or a licensed broker with its power of attorney⁠[9]
Does it repeat?No. The order ending IEEPA duties was signed February 20, 2026⁠[10]Yes, on each year's exports

The exclusion

What is CAPE's drawback exclusion?

Once an entry is named on a drawback claim, CAPE excludes it.

CBP's CAPE guidance lists "Entries that are the subject of a drawback claim, including Type 47 Drawback entries" among the entries CAPE will not accept.⁠[11]

Not yet settled: how CBP treats the IEEPA duty left on an entry already designated on a liquidated drawback claim.

What else Phase 1 excluded

Phase 1, which opened April 20, 2026, also excluded:⁠[7]⁠[6]

  • entries flagged for reconciliation (Phase 2 later added these, under the same 80-day limit);
  • entries under an open protest;
  • entries finally liquidated, or more than 80 days past liquidation;
  • entries not filed in ACE;
  • AD/CVD entries pending liquidation;
  • entry types 08 and 23.

CBP also advises leaving out entries where a surety paid the IEEPA duty.⁠[11]

The order

What order does CBP recommend, and why does it pay to follow it?

CBP "recommends submitting CAPE claims before filing drawback claims".⁠[11]

The order also protects the larger refund: CAPE returns 100% of the IEEPA duty on every unit, plus interest, while drawback returns up to 99% on exported units only.⁠[5]⁠[1]

Why drawback waits for final figures

Drawback runs on final figures: "Drawback will be based on the final liquidated duties paid that have been made final by operation of law".⁠[12]

Through CAPE, CBP liquidates or reliquidates the entry without the IEEPA duty, and the drawback claim should use those figures.

A claim on estimated duties needs a written waiver and is adjusted if final duties differ.⁠[12]

Status as of

CAPE phaseOpening dateCovers
Phase 1April 20, 2026⁠[6]Unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation
Phase 2June 29, 2026⁠[6]Adds entries flagged for reconciliation, under the same 80-day limit
Phase 3Scheduled for October 6, 2026⁠[13]Finally liquidated entries under court-ordered reliquidation, for Court of International Trade plaintiffs that gave CBP their importer-of-record number by July 30, 2026

As of late September 2026, importers outside Phase 3 depend on the V.O.S. Selections appeal (Fed. Cir. No. 26-1895) or on class certification.⁠[14]

Entry by entry

How do you decide, entry by entry?

Ask five questions of each entry, in this order. The first four settle the IEEPA duty. The fifth decides drawback.

  1. Does the entry carry IEEPA duty?

    Look for an IEEPA Chapter 99 number on any line, such as 9903.01.25 (reciprocal) or 9903.01.24 (fentanyl, China).

    • Yes

      Go to question 2.

    • No

      Go to question 5.

  2. Is the entry already the subject of a drawback claim (type 47)?

    • Yes

      CAPE excludes it. Ask your broker or counsel what route remains for the IEEPA duty.

    • No

      Go to question 3.

  3. Can CAPE take it now?

    An ACE entry, unliquidated or no more than 80 days past liquidation, not under open protest, not type 08 or 23, not AD/CVD pending liquidation, and no surety-paid IEEPA duty.⁠[7]⁠[6]⁠[11]

    • Yes

      You or the broker that filed the entry files CAPE; refund firms work through one of you.

      Hold drawback on this entry until CAPE settles it.

    • No

      Go to question 4.

  4. Is another IEEPA route open?

    A protest within 180 days of liquidation, Phase 3 for court plaintiffs, or a court case.⁠[12]⁠[13]⁠[14]

    • Yes

      Pursue it first, and hold drawback until it is settled.

    • No

      Reciprocal duty was drawback-eligible; fentanyl duty never was.⁠[15]⁠[3]

      Drawback on the exported share of reciprocal duty may be the one route left, but it also takes the entry out of any later CAPE phase.

      Decide with your broker.

  5. Were any goods on the entry exported or destroyed within five years of import?

    • Yes

      Compute drawback on the final duties that remain.

      They can include ordinary duty, Section 301, Section 122 or 338 where they apply, Section 232 where its program allows, and the share of the merchandise processing fee and harbor maintenance tax.

      Your broker files the type 47 claim.

    • No

      Nothing to claim yet. Check again when goods ship.

After CAPE

What happens to the duty left after CAPE?

It stays paid, and on goods you exported or destroyed, it is what drawback can recover.

CAPE refunds only IEEPA duty. Ordinary duty, Section 301 duty, Section 232 duty and the merchandise processing fee stay on the entry.

  • Program rules still apply. Section 232 duty on primary steel, aluminum or copper stays unrecoverable; on auto parts it needs a manufacturing claim.⁠[4]

    Antidumping and countervailing duties never come back.⁠[2]

  • The fee stays too. The merchandise processing fee is charged on value, not on duty, so CAPE leaves it in place.

    Its share on exported goods is drawback-eligible.⁠[16]⁠[2]

Examples

What does this look like on one entry? Two examples

Sample · demonstration file (synthetic data, not a client result)

Entry 716-2042014-4: 220 titanium-alloy forgings from a fictional UK supplier, entered April 8, 2025, paying $46,860.00 of ordinary duty (15%), $31,240.00 of IEEPA reciprocal duty (10%) and a $634.62 merchandise processing fee.

It liquidated February 16, 2026, so on the file's run date, May 6, 2026, it sat inside CAPE's 80-day window.

On June 20, 2025, 120 of the forgings were exported.⁠[17]

Example 1: CAPE first, then drawback
CAPE refunds the IEEPA duty on all 220 units$31,240.00, plus interest (the file estimates $2,629.30)
Drawback on ordinary duty for the 120 exported units$46,860.00 × 120 ÷ 220 × 99% = $25,304.40
Drawback on the fee's share$634.62 × 120 ÷ 220 × 99% = $342.69
Recovered from this entry$56,887.09, plus CAPE interest

Example 2 supposes the drawback claim on the 120 exported units had been filed before CAPE, and had claimed the reciprocal duty too, which CBP had said was drawback-eligible.⁠[15]

Example 2: drawback filed first
Drawback on ordinary duty$25,304.40
Drawback on reciprocal duty for the exported units$31,240.00 × 120 ÷ 220 × 99% = $16,869.60
Drawback on the fee's share$342.69
CAPEExcluded: the entry is now the subject of a drawback claim
Reciprocal duty on the 100 units kept in the U.S.$14,200.00, with no CAPE route
Recovered from this entry$42,516.69

Same entry, same exports. Filing drawback first cost $14,370.40, plus the CAPE interest.

Across the whole quarter

The sequencing check sent $335,333.09 of IEEPA duty, on 14 lines across 11 entries, to CAPE before any drawback line was drafted. Drawback then covered $64,247.34 of eligible duty from 7 matches: $63,604.87 at 99%.⁠[17]

Refund firms

What should IEEPA refund firms know?

We do not offer CAPE filing, and we never sell CAPE work to your clients.

  • Protect your CAPE work. A single type 47 claim takes an entry out of CAPE.

    Check each client's entries against any drawback plans before anyone files.

  • The refund that repeats. After CAPE, the same clients may have drawback on exports five years back and every year ahead, fed by drawback-eligible 2026 duties: Section 301, the Section 122 surcharge and Section 338.⁠[18]⁠[19]⁠[20]

  • Licensing. Preparing drawback claims for others is customs business.⁠[21] In ruling H350722 (January 16, 2026), CBP found an unlicensed platform "impermissibly conducting customs business".⁠[22]

    If your firm is not a licensed broker, your clients' drawback claims run through one.

  • Conduct. CBP's fraud bulletin lists "unsolicited emails, calls, or texts" and "pressure to act quickly" among its warning signs.⁠[23]

    Never ask a client for bank details or an ACE login.

  • ACH first. CBP pays refunds by ACH, drawback included.

    Each client needs an ACE Portal account and the ACH Refund application, or a party it designates on CBP Form 4811.⁠[24]

For IEEPA refund firms

Brokers

What should customs brokers check before filing?

  • Before you transmit a drawback claim, check every designated import entry for IEEPA lines and its CAPE status.

    Hold any entry whose CAPE question is open.

  • CAPE declarations go in as a CSV of up to 9,999 entry numbers in the ACE Portal; they "cannot be submitted via ABI/EDI".⁠[7]
  • Plan designations after CAPE. An import line cannot be split between direct-identification and substitution claims, and the first accepted claim sets it.⁠[8]
  • Hold a power of attorney executed directly with the importer of record.⁠[25]
For customs brokers

By the numbers

CAPE and drawback by the numbers

Sources dated through

FactFigureAs of
IEEPA duty collectedAbout $166 billion, from about 330,000 importers⁠[26]CBP court filing, Sept 15, 2026
Accepted into CAPEAbout $134.7 billion⁠[27]Sept 11, 2026
Certified to Treasury, including interestAbout $122 billion⁠[27]Sept 11, 2026
Interest on refunds6% corporate; 7% non-corporate⁠[28]Oct 1 to Dec 31, 2026
Drawback paid by CBPAbout $1 billion a year⁠[29]Dec 2019, the latest official figure

Changes

Changes to this page

Change log
  • CAPE status from sources dated through September 28, 2026.
  • Next scheduled review: whenever CBP changes a CAPE phase, and each quarter.

NexQloud Drawback is not a government agency. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Get started

Read less. Run the demo.

Run the demo on a sample file. About three minutes.

  1. 01

    Upload one quarter.

    Entry summaries, invoices and export records.

    WhoYou

  2. 02

    AI drafts your claim.

    It ties each export to its import, to the cent.

    WhoThe agent

  3. 03

    Your broker files. CBP pays you.

    The refund goes directly to your bank account.

    WhoA licensed broker

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Book a discovery call
Ready now? Start a claim

IEEPA refunds

Got your IEEPA refund? Drawback is the one that repeats.

We check every entry for CAPE first, the order CBP recommends.⁠[11] Drawback can recur every year.

Which tariffs qualify?

Section 301 duties, the Section 122 surcharge and the Section 338 duties on Canada all qualify.⁠[30]⁠[31]⁠[20]

How CAPE and drawback fit together

For partners

Be the firm that finds your clients a second refund.

Brokers earn the drawback fee. CPA firms bill their own work. Refund firms keep their CAPE clients. Design partners help shape it before launch.

Apply to partner

No fee to apply. We reply within 2 business days.

Questions

Top questions

All questions
What is duty drawback?

A refund of up to 99% of the duties, taxes and fees you paid on imports that you later export or destroy, or that went into products you export.⁠[1] It works in any industry.

When can I start?

We open to importers in waves, in the order of the waitlist. The demo shows the whole product with sample data today, and partners can apply now.

What will you need from me?

One quarter of records to start: entry summaries, invoices, packing lists, shipping documents, and export, return or destruction records.

How long until CBP pays?

With accelerated payment, CBP can pay before the claim is final. Its only published timing, from December 2018: processing "will generally take place within 3 weeks of the claim resubmission date."⁠[32]

Can I use my own customs broker?

Yes. Invite your own broker, or use one we name before you sign. Your POA stays with your broker, and your broker sets its own fee.

What if CBP pays less than claimed?

The fee follows what CBP actually pays. If CBP later recovers part of a payment, the fee is reduced to match.

Do you file CAPE claims?

No. We check every entry for CAPE first and flag what belongs there. You or your broker files CAPE. Refund firms work through one of you.

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