U.S. Customs and Border Protection has pushed the next phase of its Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) live on 29 June, allowing importers and customs brokers to file International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) duty-refund claims even when the underlying entry is flagged for reconciliation and no reconciliation entry has yet been filed. The move follows stakeholder testing and comes with revamped error messages designed to cut rejection rates. CAPE, accessible through the ACE Secure Data Portal, centralizes what was once a labor-intensive, paper-based refund process. Phase 2 brings previously excluded entry types 01, 02 and 06 into scope, provided they are still within 80 days of liquidation. CBP also removed a controversial validation requiring a goods-value declaration on certain tariff lines and split the generic “HTS relationship mismatch” error into more precise categories. Why does this matter to global mobility? Relocation, project cargo and household-goods shippers often find themselves navigating complex customs refunds tied to sanctioned-country duties. Faster electronic refunds free up cash flow and reduce the time shipments spend in bonded storage. Mobility procurement teams should ensure that their customs brokers understand the new validations and that ACH refund information is current in ACE to avoid payment delays. CBP cautions importers to beware of refund scams and to file exclusively through official channels. Future phases will address entries already reconciled and those subject to antidumping or countervailing duties.
Source: GHY Trade Compliance Update
