Importers now have to manage two separate tariff fights at once. Each comes with different deadlines and implications for landed costs.
Track one, the tariff that lives: The 10% global Section 122 tariff is still being collected.
On June 11, the Federal Circuit stayed the trade court’s injunction rather than reversing it. That allows to keep collecting while the appeal moves forward. The court also wrote that the government “has made a sufficient showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits.” That tariff remains in place and expires by statute on July 24 under a 150-day limit. A replacement measure could follow, but landed-cost models reset once the tariff expires.
Track two, the refund fight: The older IEEPA tariffs SCOTUS struck down in February are gone. The remaining battle is over who receives refunds on the $166 billion already collected.
DOJ appealed in early June the trade court’s order requiring refunds for all importers, arguing under Trump v. CASA that only the roughly 4,000 plaintiff importers qualify for refunds on finally liquidated entries.
The four clocks:
CAPE Phase 2 opens June 29 for about 2.8M reconciliation entries, or roughly $28.7B, though not all reconciliation entries qualify
Section 122 expires July 24, resetting landed cost
CAPE Phase 3 for finally liquidated entries follows in late July and depends on whether you filed a CIT complaint
DOJ’s Federal Circuit appeal could eliminate Phase 3 entirely for non-plaintiffs
Phase 1 is further along. As of June 5, $94.94B in claims had been accepted, about $24B had been sent to Treasury, and CBP is targeting $60B in disbursements by the end of June.
The filing decision: Companies with meaningful exposure through finally liquidated or reconciliation entries that have not yet filed at the CIT should evaluate doing so now. CBP's Susan Thomas testified on June 10 that the agency is still building the functionality to “process the finally liquidated entries,” which she estimated at about $11.4B. The government expects the figure to rise above $30 billion as more entries liquidate.
The eligibility window closes entry by entry as liquidations deadlines pass. In a June 15 alert, Holland & Knight warned that importers who do not sue at the CIT “risk facing delays or permanent loss of refunds on finally liquidated entries.”
What to watch: The Federal Circuit’s ruling on the merits will decide both tracks. If it upholds DOJ’s CASA interpretation, non-plaintiffs lose access to Phase 3 refunds permanently. That’s why the decision to file a protective complaint is time-sensitive and not something to revisit after the appeal is resolved.
