ACE Archives - Customs & International Trade Law Firm

Mandatory CPSC eFiling is Here
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Mandatory CPSC eFiling is Here
ACE, Import, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

Mandatory CPSC eFiling is Here

Key Takeaways

Starting July 8, 2026, importers of most regulated consumer products must electronically file (eFile) Certificate of Compliance data into CBP’s ACE system at the time of entry, no longer on request.
At launch, CPSC does not intend to have ACE reject entries or deny admission solely for failure to eFile, only warning messages. But CPSC will still enforce certificate requirements, seek seizure of non-compliant goods, and adjust your risk score.
A testing exemption or determination does not eliminate the certificate. You must still issue a certificate citing the rule and naming the exemption. This is a trap that catches importers who assume “exempt” means “nothing to file.”
Products entering a Foreign Trade Zone and later withdrawn for consumption or warehousing get a later effective date: January 8, 2027.
The eFiling rule changes how certificate data is filed, not which products need a certificate. Certification has been required since 2008.

A Compliance Shift Disguised as a Filing Update

Since 2008, importers and domestic manufacturers of CPSC-regulated consumer products have been required to maintain a Certificate of Compliance: a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) for children’s products, or a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) for regulated general-use products, and produce it on request. Under […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-07-08T10:11:26-04:00July 8, 2026|ACE, Import, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)|0 Comments

CBP CAPE Phase 2 Update: 4.36 Million Entries Fail, Finally-Liquidated Importers Left Out
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CBP CAPE Phase 2 Update: 4.36 Million Entries Fail, Finally-Liquidated Importers Left Out
ACE, Import, tariffs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

CBP CAPE Phase 2 Update: 4.36 Million Entries Fail, Finally-Liquidated Importers Left Out

KEY TAKEAWAYS

CBP has certified roughly $71.06 billion in IEEPA refunds and cleared 18.1 million entries through CAPE — but the headline number hides who is being left out.
4.36 million entries failed CAPE’s entry-level checks. If your entry is finally liquidated beyond CBP’s 90-day reliquidation window, CAPE will not refund it, and the government is fighting to keep it that way on appeal.
Phase 2 (reconciliation-flagged entries) went live June 29, 2026. Finally, liquidated entries remain in dispute at the Federal Circuit (No. 26-1898).
The government’s stated position: no refund on finally-liquidated entries unless the importer filed suit at the CIT. Filing preserves your standing while the appeal plays out; it is not a guarantee of recovery.
Three fixable failure reasons: importer/filer mismatch, entry-number errors, and CSV template misalignment are costing importers refunds they are otherwise entitled to.

A $71 Billion Headline That Hides Who Isn’t Getting Paid

On July 1, 2026, CBP filed its latest status declaration in Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. v. United States (CIT No. 25-00595) — the lead case now governing how IEEPA duty refunds are administered through CBP’s Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) platform. The numbers are large. As of June 29, 2026, CBP reported that CAPE declarations had cleared file validation covering 18.1 million entries, that 15.92 […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-07-03T12:33:45-04:00July 3, 2026|ACE, Import, tariffs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

CAPE Phase II Is Live: Most IEEPA Duties Are Now Refund-Eligible — Here’s How to Claim Yours
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CAPE Phase II Is Live: Most IEEPA Duties Are Now Refund-Eligible — Here’s How to Claim Yours
ACE, Import, tariffs, Trade Policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

CAPE Phase II Is Live: Most IEEPA Duties Are Now Refund-Eligible — Here’s How to Claim Yours

KEY TAKEAWAYS

As of June 29, 2026, CBP’s CAPE system reached Phase II — enhanced processing for reconciliation-flagged entries, making the large majority of IEEPA duties eligible for refund.
Refunds are not automatic for every entry type. Eligibility, filing method, and ACH enrollment all matter — and finally, liquidated entries are treated differently depending on whether you filed a CIT lawsuit.
The window rewards speed and documentation. Importers who reconcile their IEEPA-dutied entries now will recover capital sooner; those who wait risk falling into later, slower phases.

Tariff Refunds – a Moving Target

If your business paid duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), you have likely been watching a moving target: litigation over whether those duties were lawfully collected, a refund mechanism built in phases, and shifting guidance on which entries qualify and when. The result is paralysis — many importers know money may be owed back to them, but cannot tell whether, how, or when to claim it.

That uncertainty has a real cost. Every month, a refund-eligible entry that sits unaddressed, working capital tied up at CBP rather than in your business. And because the refund framework is being rolled out in stages, the entries you can act on today are not the same as the ones you will be able to act on next month — sequencing matters.

CAPE Phase II Now […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-06-29T09:50:10-04:00June 29, 2026|ACE, Import, tariffs, Trade Policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

CAPE Now Accepts Reconciliation-Flagged Entries — But File in the Wrong Order and You Forfeit the Refund
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CAPE Now Accepts Reconciliation-Flagged Entries — But File in the Wrong Order and You Forfeit the Refund
ACE, Import, tariffs, Trade Policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

CAPE Now Accepts Reconciliation-Flagged Entries — But File in the Wrong Order and You Forfeit the Refund

If you have entries flagged for reconciliation and a reconciliation deadline inside the next 30 days, the order in which you file has just become a decision that can cost you your IEEPA refund. Under CBP’s June 29, 2026, CAPE deployment, once you file the reconciliation entry (Type 09), the underlying entries are locked out of CAPE in this phase. File the recon first, and you have stripped your own entries of the consolidated IEEPA refund path — permanently, for now. The new functionality is genuinely good news. The trap is in the sequence.

Key points:

New as of June 29, 2026: CAPE will accept entries flagged for reconciliation (Entry Types 01, 02, 06) even when no Type 09 reconciliation entry has been filed yet.
The sequence that wins: File the CAPE Declaration FIRST. CAPE strips the IEEPA duties from the flagged entries, then you file the reconciliation.
The sequence that loses: File the reconciliation entry first. The underlying entries are then ineligible for CAPE in this phase.
Still not covered: Entries where the reconciliation entry is already on file — those wait for a future CAPE phase.

Same eligibility limits as Phase 1 carry over: unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation only.

The Challenge: Reconciliation Was a Hole in Phase 1

When CBP launched Phase 1 of the Consolidated Administration […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-06-26T12:30:43-04:00June 26, 2026|ACE, Import, tariffs, Trade Policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

The CPSC eFiling Deadline is Right Around the Corner!
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The CPSC eFiling Deadline is Right Around the Corner!
ACE, Import, Pre-compliance, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

The CPSC eFiling Deadline is Right Around the Corner!

Summary: On December 18, 2024, the CPSC voted to approve a Final Rule requiring importers of regulated consumer products to electronically file Certificate of Compliance data at the time of entry. The rule takes effect July 8, 2026, for most imported consumer products. This article covers what the CPSC eFiling requirement means for importers, and the steps businesses should take now to ensure compliance before the deadline.

On July 8, 2026, the CPSC’s mandatory eFiling requirements take effect for most imported consumer products. That means importers can no longer wait to be asked for a Certificate of Compliance. These certificates must now be electronically filed in CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) at the time of entry, not after the fact.

Importers that are not compliant with the applicable effective date may experience delays in the release of their shipments and increased scrutiny by CPSC at the port of entry. For products entering from a Foreign Trade Zone, the compliance date is January 8, 2027.

CPSC’s eFiling Proposal

Since 2008, importers have been required to maintain Certificates of Compliance stating that the product they are importing meets all applicable safety standards. However, these certificates did not need to be filed at the time of import.

In June 2022, CPSC announced a Beta Pilot test with CBP for the eFiling of certificate data for regulated […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2026-06-30T19:04:46-04:00June 18, 2026|ACE, Import, Pre-compliance, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

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